THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Julie Heldman

“I began to realize that it was important for me to stand up not just for our Tour, but for women’s rights in general.”

Former world top 10 tennis player and author of Driven, A Daughter’s Odyssey. Journalist and tennis commentator on network TV. Represented the U.S. on two winning Federation Cup teams and at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where she won three medals – a gold, a silver, and a bronze. Her highest women’s rankings were number two in the U.S. (twice) and number five in the world (twice). Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame, the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame, the Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame, and the Dalton School Hall of Fame. Graduated from Stanford University and UCLA Law School.

Interviewed by Judy Waxman, Oral Historian, July 2025

Photo. Julie Heldman, Wightman Cup Tennis MVP Trophy, 1969.