It was composed of the 2nd annual Virginia Slims Circuit with 20 events, a tour of tennis tournaments for female tennis players, sponsored by Virginia Slims cigarettes, but approved by the ILTF and the 2nd annual ILTF Commercial Union Women's Grand Prix circuit with 13 events which included Roland Garros and Wimbledon,[1][2] and sponsored by Commercial Union insurance company and the 58th annual ILTF World Circuit with 125 events.

Nine of them, including Billie Jean King, became later known as the "Original 9" after being banned from the then existing multi-gender invitational professional events run by the influential United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) due to their boycotting of the Pacific Southwest Championships.

It began 27 December 1971 with the Eastern Province Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and ended on 25 December 1972 with Border Championships, East London, South Africa This years singles title leader Evonne Goolagong won 5 tournaments on this circuit her total 12 tournament wins were across two circuits, this one and the Grand Prix.

The table also includes the Grand Slam tournaments, the 1972 Virginia Slims Championships and the 1972 Federation Cup.

[1] Julie Heldman Betty Stöve Valerie Ziegenfuss Corinne Molesworth These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the 1972 Virginia Slims Circuit.