Women’s tennis was in its glory in the 1980s. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert were in the midst of an 80-match rivalry, while Tracy Austin, Hana Mandlikova, Helena Sukova and Jana Novotna were also prominent players. And Stefanie Graf, Seles, Sabatini, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario and Jennifer Capriati were just behind them, with Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters about to arrive.

Women’s tennis was in its glory in the 1980s. Martina Navratilova, pictured, and Chris Evert were in the midst of an 80-match rivalry,Credit…Focus on Sport/Getty Images

But for all the hype the women received after Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973, it would be many years before they received equal prize money at any major other than the U.S. Open, which awarded pay equity in 1973. In 1984, the Wimbledon men’s champion won £100,000 (about $130,000 today), while the women’s winner received £90,000. The chief argument was that the men played three out of five sets at the majors and at the Davis Cup, while women played two out of three.

“I was in favor of playing three out of five at the majors, just to prove that we could do it,” said Navratilova by phone from her Florida home last month. “We wanted the world to know that we weren’t wilting flowers. We never got the chance at the Slams, but we did at the Finals, and I loved it.”

Anne Person Worcester worked for the tour sponsor Virginia Slims in the 1980s and went on to become the first female chief executive of the WTA Tour in 1994. She backed the three-out-of-five-set format at the Garden.

“Women’s tennis was on a high, and Virginia Slims wanted to be unique,” Worcester said by phone in September. “After decades of equal prize money conversations, what we heard most was that the men played longer than the women. It was a ridiculous argument because if you go to a three-hour Broadway show or movie do you pay more than for a two-hour show? But playing three out of five became a novelty, and most of the women were on board.”