On the week of a massive milestone anniversary in women's tennis history, Ben and Courtney set the table for a discussion of the Original 9, the group of women who broke away from the tennis establishment and risked their careers in order to make women's professional tennis into a viable sport on September 23, 1970.

An interview with Kristy Pigeon, one of the nine, will be here on NCR soon, so Ben and Courtney wanted to set the stage a bit and explain what the Original 9 was, why they matter, and why their stories still resonate.

Courtney has been doing lots of great stuff about the Original 9 over at WTA Insider, so go listen to Gladys Heldman, listen to Judy Dalton, or (re)visit NCR's chat with Julie Heldman.

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