1970 Houston Women's Invitation
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The 1970 Houston Women's Invitation (also known as the Virginia Slims Invitation for sponsorship reasons) was a women's only tennis tournament. The tournament was the first women only tournament and was created by Gladys Heldman and held at the Houston Racquet Club.
1970 Houston Women's Invitation | ||||
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Date | September 23–26 | |||
Edition | 1st | |||
Draw | 8S | |||
Prize money | $7,500 | |||
Surface | Clay (Green) / outdoor | |||
Location | Houston, Texas, U.S. | |||
Venue | Houston Racquet Club | |||
Champions | ||||
Rosie Casals | ||||
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The tournament was held in protest to the unfair distribution of prize money at tennis events. The women objected to the Pacific Southwest Championships offering a 8:1 ratio split in prize money.[1][2] Nine women, known as "the original 9", including Billie Jean King, went with Heldman to play in this one-off tournament.
The Houston Women's invitation received sponsorship from Virginia Slims (Philip Morris), making the total prize purse $7,500 and took place at the same time as the Pacific Southwest Championships. The tournament was won by Rosie Casals when she beat Judy Dalton of Australia in the final.