Rosie Casals, now 62, entered tennis as an outsider and a long shot: she was the 5-ft.-2 daughter of immigrants to the U.S. from El Salvador. “The other kids had nice tennis clothes, nice rackets, nice white shoes, and came in Cadillacs,” Casals once told People. “I felt stigmatized because we were poor.” She got over it — and she forced the rest of the tennis world to as well. Fiery and charismatic, she overcame her height through first-rate attacking and a wide range of shots (including one between her legs), and racked up 90 titles during her two decades of play. A natural rebel, she fought the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association to boost the profile of the women’s game and increase the prize money awarded to women. When the USLTA refused, she and the rest of the Original 9 set up their own series of tournaments, which became the Virginia Slims Tour. Casals won its first event in Houston in 1970. The schism ultimately led to the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association.