Virginia Slims of Houston

Virginia Slims of Houston
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name	Houston Women's Invitation (1970) Virginia Slims International (1971) Virginia Slims of Houston (1973–78, 1983–94) Avon Championships of Houston (1979–82) Gallery Furniture Championships (1995)
Tour	WTA Tour (1970–95)
Founded	1970
Abolished	1995
Surface	Carpet (1970–84) Clay (1985–95)

The Virginia Slims of Houston is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1970 to 1995. It was held in Houston, Texas in the United States and played on indoor carpet courts from 1970 to 1984 and on outdoor clay courts from 1985 to 1995.

The event has the distinction of being the first-ever tournament on the professional women's circuit, which would eventually become the WTA Tour. In 1971, the event served as the series Championships of the inaugural Virginia Slims Tour.

Martina Navratilova was the most successful player at the tournament, winning the singles and doubles competitions six times each, partnering Dutchwomen Betty Stöve and Manon Bollegraf and Americans Janet Newberry, Pam Shriver, Elise Burgin and Kathy Jordan once each for her doubles successes.

Finals

Singles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1970	Rosemary Casals	Judy Dalton	5–7, 6–1, 7–5
1971	Billie Jean King	Kerry Melville	6–4, 4–6, 6–1
1972	Not Held
1973	Françoise Dürr	Rosemary Casals	6–4, 1–6, 6–4
1974	Chris Evert	Virginia Wade	6–3, 5–7, 6–1
1975	Chris Evert	Margaret Court	6–3, 6–2
1976	Martina Navratilova	Chris Evert	6–3, 6–4
1977	Martina Navratilova	Sue Barker	7–6(5–3), 7–5
1978	Martina Navratilova	Billie Jean King	1–6, 6–2, 6–2
1979	Martina Navratilova	Virginia Wade	6–3, 6–2
1980	Billie Jean King	Martina Navratilova	6–1, 6–3
1981	Hana Mandlíková	Bettina Bunge	6–4, 6–4
1982	Bettina Bunge	Pam Shriver	6–2, 3–6, 6–2
1983	Martina Navratilova	Sylvia Hanika	6–3, 7–6
1984	Hana Mandlíková	Manuela Maleeva	6–4, 6–2
1985	Martina Navratilova	Elise Burgin	6–4, 6–1
1986	Chris Evert-Lloyd	Kathy Rinaldi	6–4, 2–6, 6–4
1987	Chris Evert	Martina Navratilova	3–6, 6–1, 7–6
1988	Chris Evert	Martina Navratilova	6–0, 6–4
1989	Monica Seles	Chris Evert	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
1990	Katerina Maleeva	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 1–6, 6–4
1991	Monica Seles	Mary Joe Fernández	6–4, 6–3
1992	Monica Seles	Zina Garrison	6–1, 6–1
1993	Conchita Martínez	Sabine Hack	6–3, 6–2
1994	Sabine Hack	Mary Pierce	7–5, 6–4
1995	Steffi Graf	Åsa Carlsson	6–1, 6–1

Doubles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
1970	Not Held
1971	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr	6–3, 1–6, 6–4
1972	Not Held
1973	Mona Schallau Pam Teeguarden	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–3, 5–7, 6–4
1974	Janet Newberry Wendy Overton	Sue Stap Virginia Wade	4–6, 7–5, 6–2
1975	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	Evonne Goolagong Virginia Wade	2–6, 6–3, 7–6
1976	Françoise Dürr Rosemary Casals	Chris Evert Martina Navratilova	6–0, 7–5
1977	Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve	Sue Barker Ann Kiyomura	4–6, 6–2, 6–1
1978	Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova	Greer Stevens Mona Guerrant	7–6(5–4), 4–6, 7–6(5–4)
1979	Martina Navratilova Janet Newberry	Pam Shriver Betty Stöve	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
1980	Billie Jean King Ilana Kloss	Betty Stöve Wendy Turnbull	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
1981	Sue Barker Ann Kiyomura	Regina Maršíková Mary Lou Piatek	5–7, 6–4, 6–3
1982	Kathy Jordan Pam Shriver	Sue Barker Sharon Walsh	7–6, 6–2
1983	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	Jo Durie Barbara Potter	6–4, 6–3
1984	Mima Jaušovec Anne White	Barbara Potter Sharon Walsh	6–4, 3–6, 7–6
1985	Elise Burgin Martina Navratilova	Manuela Maleeva Helena Suková	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
1986	Chris Evert-Lloyd Wendy Turnbull	Elise Burgin JoAnne Russell	6–2, 6–4
1987	Kathy Jordan Martina Navratilova	Zina Garrison Lori McNeil	6–2, 6–4
1988	Katrina Adams Zina Garrison	Lori McNeil Martina Navratilova	6–7, 6–2, 6–4
1989	Katrina Adams Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	6–3, 6–4
1990	Not Completed
1991	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernández	6–1, 2–6, 6–1
1992	Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	7–5, 6–4
1993	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	Eugenia Maniokova Radka Zrubáková	6–3, 5–7, 7–6(9–7)
1994	Manon Bollegraf Martina Navratilova	Katrina Adams Zina Garrison	6–4, 6–2
1995	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	Wiltrud Probst Rene Simpson	6–4, 6–2

References

• WTA Results Archive Archived 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine