The Toyota Championships were the finales in an annual series of professional women's tennis tournaments for women from 1977 through 1982. They were a continuation of the earlier Colgate Series Championships (1977-80) They were the fall season finales of the Colgate Series, then later Toyota International Series circuits. They operated in much the same way as the men's WCT Circuit which also had WCT seasonal finals held in the fall or winter. The championships were discontinued when Virginia Slims became the year-round sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association Tour in 1983. The best singles and doubles players of the circuit, based on ranking points earned, qualified for the championships.

The main full season finales were, called the Virginia Slims Championships in 1972-78, then the Avon Championships in the 1979-82 period, then the Virginia Slims Championships again from 1983 to 1989. In 1990 a single unified women's circuit began, with a rebranded year end championship event called the WTA Tour Championships (today known as the WTA Finals)

Finals

Singles Series YearSeries-Ending TournamentLocationSurfaceChampionRunner-up Score1977 Colgate Series Championships Palm Springs, California, U.S. Hard Chris Evert Billie Jean King 6–2, 6–21978 Colgate Series Championships Palm Springs, California, U.S. Hard Chris Evert Martina Navratilova 6–3, 6–31979 Colgate Series Championships Landover, Maryland, U.S. Carpet Martina Navratilova Tracy Austin 6–2, 6–11980 Colgate Series Championships Landover, Maryland, U.S. Carpet Tracy Austin Andrea Jaeger 6–2, 6–21981 Toyota Series Championships East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. Carpet Tracy Austin Martina Navratilova 2–6, 6–4, 6–21982 Toyota Series Championships East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. Carpet Martina Navratilova Chris Evert 4–6, 6–1, 6–2

Doubles Series YearChampionsRunners-up Score1977 Françoise Dürr Virginia Wade Helen Gourlay Cawley Joanne Russell 6–1, 4–6, 6–41978 Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova Wendy Turnbull Kerry Reid 6–3, 6–41979 Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova Chris Evert Rosemary Casals 6–4, 6–31980 Rosemary Casals Wendy Turnbull Candy Reynolds Paula Smith 6–3, 4–6, 7–61981 Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver Rosemary Casals Wendy Turnbull 6–3, 6–41982 Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver Candy Reynolds Paula Smith 6–4, 7–5

See also WTA Tour Championships

References

External links WTA official homepage