1970 Houston Women's Invitation

Until the Houston event, all women's tournaments were held alongside men's tennis events. These events were part of the Grand Prix series for women, but unlike the men's series, without a season-ending championship. By the 1970s, the pay which had been 2.5:1 ratio between men and women increased. In 1969, ratios of 5:1 in terms of pay were common at smaller tournaments; by 1970, these figures increased to 8:1 and even 12:1. At the 1970 Italian Open, men's champion Ilie Nastase received $3,500 and women's champion Billie Jean King received $600. The turning point in the struggle for acceptance of the women's game came before the US Open in 1970. The Pacific Southwest Championships, run by Jack Kramer, offered a total prize purse of $12,500 to the men players and only $1,500 to the women players, for a ratio worse than 8:1, a pay difference tennis journalist Bud Collins termed a "feudalistic ratio." In the locker rooms at Forest Hills, the women tennis professionals argued about whether to boycott the Pacific Southwest Championship. The idealists in the group wanted to make a point before 12:1 ratios were the norm. Others wanted no part in a rebellion. When it looked as if the group would get nowhere, Heldman walked into the locker room and announced her plan for the Houston Women's Invitation. ==Opposition==

When Heldman first told Kramer of her tournament, he stated that he would not oppose the tournament. Once Kramer spoke with his friends at the USLTA, he changed his mind and decided that he would object to the tournament taking place; the women needed the governing body's backing to be allowed to proceed. ==Sanctions==

Two days before the tournament, Alaster Martin, president of the USLTA, sent an ultimatum to the players planning to take part in the tournament. His message stated that the USLTA would suspend any player involved, meaning they could not play in Wightman or Federation Cup competition. Their future at the Grand Slams also would be in doubt. The players marked the moment by taking a photo of each of them holding up a dollar bill symbolic of the $1 contracts they had signed. The photo was widely circulated in the press and has long since represented the birth of modern women's professional tennis as a whole and more specifically the first women's professional tour. The USLTA suspended the players on September 25, two days later. ==Players==

• Peaches Bartkowicz: Winner of the Girls under-18 national title three times in a row, equalling Sarah Palfrey's record. • Judy Dalton: Had just completed a career Grand Slam in Women's doubles as she had won the US Open, the only title missing from her collection at that point. Dalton was part of Australia's winning Federation Cup team in 1970. "Before there was a Tour, I actually worked as an accountant when I wasn't playing tennis. In those days, the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia wouldn't let any of us—men or women—play more than six months of the year. These days that would be called restraint of trade!" On the money Dalton said, "I know exactly what I did with my prize money from Houston. My husband, David, and I had just bought a house in Melbourne, and I sent most of it home to help pay it off." With regard to the personal sanctions against her, she said, "I couldn't play with my Slazenger racquet, we couldn't play in tournaments. In fairness, Wilson was fantastic—they gave us all the stuff that we wanted and did what they could to help. From memory, I used Wilson racquets for two years." • Julie Heldman: The daughter of the leader Gladys. Heldman was a three-time Canadian Junior Champion and a US junior champion. Heldman was a runner-up at one of the Olympic exhibitions to Bartkowicz. Heldman had won the prestigious Canadian and Italian Opens in the 1960s. Heldman in 1970 had her best run at a Grand Slam to date as she reached the semifinals of the French Open. Heldman, however, was injured and therefore did not participate in the competition. "That's my abiding memory of that time: the sense of solidarity and a step forward. I couldn't play because I had an elbow injury. My parents had just moved from New York to Houston, and I was in the new house manning the phones the night before the tournament was due to start. The women were calling and saying the USTA was threatening to suspend everybody. The morning the tournament was due to start, I didn't go to the site because I wasn't playing. But when I heard everyone had stood in solidarity I decided I would do the same, even if it meant being suspended too." {{quote box|quote="We knew we were making history and we had such a strong sense of purpose. I just kept thinking about the vision we had for the future of our sport. We wanted to ensure that any girl in the world that was good enough would have a place to go and make a living playing tennis."|source=Billie Jean King speaking in 2010. • Billie Jean King: Former Australian and US Open champion and three time Wimbledon champion. King was also the reigning Wimbledon doubles champion and the reigning French Open mixed doubles champion. At this stage in her career, King already had a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles and only needed the French Open to repeat the feat in singles play. King was considered the ring leader amongst the players. • Kerry Melville: At just 23, had just broken into the world's top ten when she joined King and Heldman. In 1970, she also managed to reach the final of her home Slam, her first final, but lost to Margaret Court. Forty years later she stated, "Houston felt like the start of something, and I remember being excited. I was just a little ol' Aussie... I wanted a better deal, of course, but I wouldn't put myself in the feminist category. I went a lot by what Judy (Dalton) did; it was good having her around. I think my parents were a little concerned, but I felt that with Billie Jean we had a strong leader." • Kristy Pigeon: Winner of Junior US Open and Junior Wimbledon titles in her career. • Nancy Richey: Two time singles Grand Slam champion and multiple doubles champ; she was 28 in 1970. Richey said 40 years later of the events, "I still feel the same way as I did then about the inequities. It was so unfair, we were so discriminated against. Some of the men players were upset that we were getting any of the prize money at the tournaments that were being held jointly. If the purse was $10,000, they were getting $8,500. It was that kind of ratio. And they were pretty vocal about it. They'd say, 'Well go out and get your own circuit and stop taking the money from us." • Valerie Ziegenfuss: Reached the fourth round of the US Open in 1969 and the third round at Wimbledon in 1970. She won $300 for her loss to Casels. Two other players withdrew from the event: Patti Hogan withdrew because she did not want to take the risk and stand against the establishment. Margaret Court, who, after completing her Grand Slam, had just lost in Charlotte to Chris Evert, who was 15 at the time, withdrew due to a left ankle injury which sidelined her for three months. She was replaced by Pigeon. ==Tournament==

Joseph Cullman added an additional $2,500 making the purse stand at $7,500. ==Aftermath==

During the tournament, Barry MacKay, chairman of the Pacific Coast Championships, called Heldman with an offer. Following all the publicity surrounding her event MacKay had decided to increase the women's prize fund for a draw of 32 players from $2,000 to $4,400. Heldman declined and stated that her players would play for a purse of $11,000. MacKay called the next day and agreed to the demands. This became the Virginia Slims Circuit, with Phillip Morris continuing their link and sponsoring 8 of the 16 tournaments on the schedule. In 2015, a tennis.com article stated, "The tour would be criticized over the years for promoting cigarettes, but Cullman was the right sponsor for the moment." The ILTA initially suspended the players as well, but soon relented when they realised that they needed them for their events to bring in spectators. ==References==