1970 ILTF Women's Tennis Circuit

The 1970 ILTF Women's Tennis Circuit was the 57th season since the formation of the International Lawn Tennis Federation in 1913,^[1] and the 96th season since the first women's tournaments were held in 1876.

Also known as the World Tennis Circuit^[2] or simply the ILTF Circuit^[3] consisted of a worldwide series of 314 tennis tournaments played across 6 continental tennis circuits and administered by the ILTF and its associate members.

The circuit began in late December 1969 in Valencia, Spain and ended on 26 December 1970 in East London, South Africa.

1970 was a very important year for women's tennis that would see the staging of two women only Virginia Slims events leading to a nascent Virginia Slims Circuit.^[4] The Virginia Slims Circuit would then be the platform for the formation of the Women's Tennis Association, which has risen to the structures of today.^[5]

The Open era began with the British Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth in 1968. At the first Open Wimbledon, the prize-fund difference was 2.5:1 in favour of men. Billie Jean King won £750 for taking the title, while Rod Laver took £2,000. The total purses of the competitions were £14,800 for men and £5,680 for women.^[6] By the 1970s, the pay difference which had been a 2.5:1 ratio between men and women had 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.^[7]

The situation came to a head in 1970, when most tournaments offered four times as much prize money to men than they did to women. At the 1970 Italian Open, men's singles champion Ilie Năstase was paid US$3,500 while women's singles champion King received just US$600.^[8] On top of this, the USLTA failed to organise any tournaments for women in 1970.^[9]

Billie Jean King and eight other female tennis players – Americans Rosemary Casals, Nancy Richey, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Julie Heldman and Australians Kerry Melville Reid and Judy Tegart Dalton decided to enlist World Tennis magazine publisher Gladys Heldman to help negotiate for greater equality in prize money and provide valuable public relations assistance.^[10] All the players were putting their tennis careers at risk because the influential USLTA did not back them.^[11]

Gladys Heldman and the "Original 9" decided to target the Pacific Southwest Championships held in Los Angeles on the grounds that it paid eight times more money to men than it did to women. Heldman attempted to get the tournament chairman, former professional tennis player Jack Kramer, to reduce the inequality between the prize money purses for men and women. Kramer refused, leading the "Original 9" to declare at a press conference held at Forest Hills, New York that they would boycott the Pacific Southwest Championships and play at what would become the first Virginia Slims Circuit event, a US$7,500 Houston Women's Invitation tournament held in Houston, Texas in September 1970^[12] Despite the USLTA's declaration that it would not sanction this event, the "Original 9" went ahead.^[13] The Virginia Slims Circuit provided the platform for the formation of the Women's Tennis Association, which has risen to the structures of today.^[14]

The 1970 ILTF women's tennis circuit began with Coupe Faucombridge tournament in Valencia, Spain. In the four most important tournaments of the year defending champion Margaret Court defeated Kerry Melville in the final, 6–3, 6–1 to win the women's singles tennis title at the Australian Open.^[15] It was her ninth Australian title. At the French Open defending champion Margaret Court defeated Helga Niessen in the final, 6–2, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title.^[16] It was her fifth French Open singles title.

At the Wimbledon Championships Margaret Court defeated Billie Jean King in the final, 14–12, 11–9 to win the ladies' singles tennis title,^[17] her third major singles title of the year, and her 19th major singles title overall. At the US Open defending champion Margaret Court defeated Rosie Casals in the final, 6–2, 2–6, 6–1 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1970 US Open.^[18] With the win, Court completed the Grand Slam, becoming the second woman to achieve it after Maureen Connolly in (1953), and the first woman in the Open Era to do so.^[19] It was her record-breaking 20th major singles title, surpassing Helen Wills Moody's all-time tally. The circuit ended on 26 December 1970 at the Border Championships in East London, South Africa.

This is a calendar of all official events that were administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation in the year 1970, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. The table also includes Grand Slam events, and tournaments on the African, Asian, Australasia, Central American & Caribbean, European, and South American ILTF regional circuits,^[20] as part of the annual world tennis circuit.^[21] Team events such as the Federation Cup and Wightman Cup are included.

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