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1970 Grand Prix (tennis)

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1970 Grand Prix circuit
Rod Laver in 1970
Details
Duration27 April 1970 – 9 December 1970
Edition1st
Tournaments20
CategoriesGroup A (3)
Masters
Group 1 (6)
Group 2 (11)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titlesAustralia Rod Laver (4)
Most tournament finalsAustralia Rod Laver (7)
Prize money leaderUnited States Cliff Richey ($25,000)
Points leaderUnited States Cliff Richey (60)
1971

The 1970 Pepsi-Cola ILTF Grand Prix was a tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.[1] It was the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix circuit and consisted of men's tournaments recognised by the ILTF.[a] The creation of the Grand Prix circuit, on an experimental basis during its first year, was announced in April 1970 by the president of the ILTF, Ben Barnett.[2] It was the brainchild of Jack Kramer, former tennis promoter and winner of the Wimbledon and US championships, and was aimed at countering the influence of commercial promoters, particularly Lamar Hunt and his World Championship Tennis circuit and George MacCall's National Tennis League.[3][4]

The tournaments were graded in one of three categories which determined the number of ranking points available: Class A, comprising the three Grand Slam tournaments, Class 1 and Class 2. The Pepsi-Cola Masters and Davis Cup Final are included in this calendar but did not count towards the Grand Prix. In addition to the tournament prize money a bonus pool of $150,000 was available for the top 20 ranked players. The bonus pool was jointly funded by Pepsi-Cola as title sponsor and the participating tournaments which reserved 10% of their prize money.[5][6] Cliff Richey earned $25,000 bonus as the winner of the first Grand Prix circuit.[7] At the end of the season the top six ranked players qualified for a Masters round-robin tournament held in Tokyo which was won by Stan Smith.

All open tennis tournaments were eligible to be included in the Grand Prix circuit provided they committed to not paying any management fees to commercial organizations with players under contract. Originally the Italian Championships, played in April in Rome, was part of the Grand Prix calendar but it was withdrawn during the tournament when it became known that they had paid management fees to the competing World Championship Tennis organization.[8]

Schedule

[edit]
Key
Class A tournaments
Grand Prix Masters
Group 1 tournaments
Group 2 tournaments
Team events

April

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
27 Apr Rothmans British Hard Court Championships
Bournemouth, Great Britain
Clay – $25,000 – 32S/16D/16XD
Group 2
United Kingdom Mark Cox
6–1, 6–2, 6–3
South Africa Bob Hewitt United Kingdom Gerald Battrick
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nikola Pilić
France Georges Goven
Egypt Ismail El Shafei
France François Jauffret
Netherlands Tom Okker
Netherlands Tom Okker
Australia Tony Roche
2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Australia William Bowrey
Australia Owen Davidson
United States Billie Jean King
South Africa Bob Hewitt
6–2, 3–6, 6–1
United Kingdom Virginia Wade
South Africa Bob Maud

May

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
25 May French Open
Paris, France
Grand Slam
Group A
Clay – 128S/101Q/72D/53XD
SinglesDoublesMixed doubles
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
6–2, 6–4, 6–0
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović United States Cliff Richey
France Georges Goven
Romania Ilie Năstase
United States Arthur Ashe
France François Jauffret
Italy Martin Mulligan
Romania Ilie Năstase
Romania Ion Țiriac
6–2, 6–4, 6–3
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Charlie Pasarell
United States Billie Jean King
South Africa Bob Hewitt
3–6, 6–4, 6–2
France Françoise Dürr
France Jean-Claude Barclay

June

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
22 Jun Wimbledon Championships
London, Great Britain
Grand Slam
Group A
Grass – 128S/80Q/64D/32Q/56XD/12Q
SinglesDoublesMixed doubles
Australia John Newcombe
5–7, 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 6–1
Australia Ken Rosewall United Kingdom Roger Taylor
Spain Andrés Gimeno
United States Clark Graebner
Australia Tony Roche
Australia Bob Carmichael
Australia Roy Emerson
Australia John Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche
10–8, 6–3, 6–1
Australia Ken Rosewall
Australia Fred Stolle
United States Rosemary Casals
Romania Ilie Năstase
6–3, 4–6, 9–7
Soviet Union Olga Morozova
Soviet Union Alex Metreveli

July

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
6 Jul Swedish Championships
Båstad, Sweden
Clay – 32S/21D
Group 1
Australia Dick Crealy
6–3, 6–1, 6–1
France Georges Goven Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović
Australia Bob Carmichael
Sweden Per Jemsby
United States Clark Graebner
Australia John Alexander
Chile Patricio Rodríguez
Australia Dick Crealy
Australia Allan Stone
6–2, 2–6, 12–12 RET.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
13 Jul Washington Star International
Washington, United States
Clay – $35,000 – 64S/32D
Group 2
United States Cliff Richey
7–5, 6–2, 6–1
United States Arthur Ashe Romania Ilie Năstase
Romania Ion Țiriac
South Africa Bob Hewitt
France Georges Goven
Australia Dick Crealy
United States Stan Smith
South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
7–5, 6–0
Romania Ilie Năstase
Romania Ion Țiriac
20 Jul Western Championships
Cincinnati, United States
Clay – $25,000 – 64S/32D
Group 2
Australia Ken Rosewall
7–9, 9–7, 8–6
United States Cliff Richey Romania Ilie Năstase
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
United States Clark Graebner
Romania Ion Țiriac
United States Stan Smith
South Africa Bob Hewitt
Romania Ilie Năstase
Romania Ion Țiriac
6–3, 6–4
South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
27 Jul U.S. Clay Court Championships
Indianapolis, United States
Clay – $50,000 – 64S/32D
Group 1
United States Cliff Richey
6–2, 10–8, 3–6, 6–1
United States Stan Smith Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović
United States Arthur Ashe
South Africa Frew McMillan
United States Clark Graebner
Australia Allan Stone
Chile Jaime Fillol
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Clark Graebner
2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Romania Ilie Năstase
Romania Ion Țiriac

August

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
3 Aug First National Bank Classic
Louisville, United States
Group 2
Clay – $25,000 – 16S/8D
SinglesDoubles
Australia Rod Laver
6–3, 6–3
Australia John Newcombe Australia Tony Roche
Australia Ken Rosewall
South Africa Cliff Drysdale
Spain Andrés Gimeno
Australia Roy Emerson
United States Dennis Ralston
Australia John Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche
8–6, 5–7, 6–4
Australia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver
3 Aug Bavarian Open Championships
Munich, West Germany
Group 2
24S/8D
Romania Ion Țiriac
2–6, 9–7, 6–3, 6–4
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Niki Pilić West Germany Christian Kunke
Romania Ilie Năstase
South Africa Bob Hewitt
West Germany Harald Elschenbroich
Australia John Alexander
AustraliaBarry Phillips-Moore
Australia Owen Davidson
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Niki Pilić
6–4, 7–5, 6–4
South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
10 Aug U.S. Professional Tennis Championships
Boston, United States
Group 1
Hard – $50,000 – 32S/16D
SinglesDoubles
Australia Tony Roche
3–6, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2, 6–2
Australia Rod Laver Australia Roy Emerson
South Africa Cliff Drysdale
Chile Jaime Fillol
United States Arthur Ashe
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
Australia Ray Ruffels
Australia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver
6–1, 7–6
Egypt Ismail El Shafei
Denmark Torben Ulrich
24 Aug Pennsylvania Championships
Merion, United States
Group 2
Grass – 64S/32D
Australia Ray Ruffels
6–3, 7–6, 6–3
Chile Jaime Fillol Australia Dick Crealy
New Zealand Brian Fairlie
Australia Bob Carmichael
Pakistan Haroon Rahim
Australia William Bowrey
South Africa Cliff Drysdale
Australia William Bowrey
Australia Ray Ruffels
3–6, 6–2, 7–5
United States Jim McManus
United States Jim Osborne
Davis Cup Final
Cleveland, United States – hard (i)
 United States
5–0
 West Germany
31 Aug Marlboro Open
South Orange, United States
Group 2
Grass – $25,000 – 42S/19D
Australia Rod Laver
6–4, 6–2, 6–2
Australia Bob Carmichael Australia Ken Rosewall
Soviet Union Alex Metreveli
Spain Andrés Gimeno
New Zealand Brian Fairlie
United States Dick Stockton
New Zealand Onny Parun
Chile Patricio Cornejo
Chile Jaime Fillol
3–6, 7–6, 7–6
Spain Andrés Gimeno
Australia Rod Laver

September

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
7 Sep US Open
New York, United States
Grand Slam
Class A
Grass – $176,000 – 108S/63D/34XD
SinglesDoublesMixed doubles
Australia Ken Rosewall
2–6, 6–4, 7–6(5–2), 6–3
Australia Tony Roche United States Cliff Richey
Australia John Newcombe
United States Dennis Ralston
New Zealand Brian Fairlie
United States Stan Smith
United States Arthur Ashe
France Pierre Barthès
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nikola Pilić
6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6
Australia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver
Australia Margaret Court
United States Marty Riessen
6–4, 6–4
Australia Judy Tegart
South Africa Frew McMillan
21 Sep Pepsi Pacific Southwest Open
Los Angeles, United States
Group 1
Hard – $65,000 – 64S/32D
SinglesDoubles
Australia Rod Laver
4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Australia John Newcombe United States Arthur Ashe
United States Tom Gorman
United States Stan Smith
United States Clark Graebner
United States Marty Riessen
United States Pancho Gonzales
Netherlands Tom Okker
United States Marty Riessen
7–6, 6–2
United States Bob Lutz
United States Stan Smith
28 Sep Pacific Coast Championships
Berkeley, United States
Group 2
Hard – 64S/32D
United States Arthur Ashe
6–4, 6–2, 6–4
United States Cliff Richey United States Stan Smith
United States Dennis Ralston
Australia Bob Carmichael
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
Chile Jaime Fillol
Brazil Thomaz Koch
United States Bob Lutz
United States Stan Smith
6–2, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2
United States Roy Barth
United States Tom Gorman

October

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
18 Oct Phoenix Thunderbird Open
Phoenix, United States
Hard – 31S/16D
Group 2
United States Stan Smith
6–3, 6–7, 6–1
United States Jim Osborne United States Barry MacKay
Australia Bob Carmichael
United States Charlie Pasarell
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
United States Frank Froehling
United States Tom Edlefsen
Australia Dick Crealy
Australia Ray Ruffels
7–6, 6–3
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
United States Charlie Pasarell

November

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
1 Nov Stockholm Open
Stockholm, Sweden
Group 2
Hard (i) – $35,000 – 32S/16D
SinglesDoubles
United States Stan Smith
5–7, 6–4, 6–4
United States Arthur Ashe Australia Ken Rosewall
United States Cliff Richey
United Kingdom Mark Cox
France Georges Goven
United States Dennis Ralston
Australia Roy Emerson
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Stan Smith
6–0, 5–7, 7–5
Australia Bob Carmichael
Australia Owen Davidson
8 Nov South American Championships
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Group 1
Clay – 32S/8D
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović
6–4, 6–2, 6–0
Spain Manuel Orantes Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
Australia Bob Carmichael
Australia Ray Ruffels
Czechoslovakia Jan Kukal
Australia Dick Crealy
United States Cliff Richey
Australia Bob Carmichael
Australia Ray Ruffels
7–5, 6–2, 5–7, 6–7, 6–3
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željko Franulović
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
Paris Open
Paris, France
Group 2
Carpet – $31,000 – 32S/8D
Singles
United States Arthur Ashe
7–6, 6–4, 6–3
United States Marty Riessen United States Stan Smith
France Georges Goven
United States Pancho Gonzales
United States Dennis Ralston
United Kingdom Roger Taylor
Australia Ken Rosewall
United States Pancho Gonzales
Australia Ken Rosewall
6–4, 7–6, 7–6
Netherlands Tom Okker
United States Marty Riessen
16 Nov Embassy British Indoor Championships
London, England
Group 1
Carpet – 32S/16D
Singles
Australia Rod Laver
6–3, 6–4, 6–4
United States Cliff Richey South Africa Cliff Drysdale
Australia Ken Rosewall
Romania Ilie Năstase
United States Dennis Ralston
United Kingdom Roger Taylor
United States Pancho Gonzales
Australia Ken Rosewall
United States Stan Smith
6–4, 6–3, 6–2
Romania Ilie Năstase
Romania Ion Țiriac

December

[edit]
Week Tournament Champions Runners-up Semifinalists Quarterfinalists
9 Dec Pepsi-Cola Masters
Tokyo, Japan
Hard (i) – $50,000 – 6S/3D (round robin)
SinglesDoubles
United States Stan Smith Australia Rod Laver NA NA
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Stan Smith
Czechoslovakia Jan Kodeš
Australia Rod Laver

Grand Prix point system

[edit]

The tournaments listed above were divided into three categories. Class A consisted of the Grand Slams while the other tournaments were divided into Class 1 and Class 2. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. Ties were settled by the number of tournaments played. The points allocation is listed below:

Class A
  • Champion: 15
  • Runner-up: 10
  • Semifinalist: 7
  • Quarterfinalist: 5
  • 9th – 16th: 3
  • 17th – 32nd: 2
Class 1
  • Champion: 11
  • Runner-up: 7
  • Semifinalist: 5
  • 5th – 8th: 3
  • 9th – 16th: 1
Class 2
  • Champion: 8
  • Runner-up: 6
  • Semifinalist: 4
  • 5th – 8th: 2
  • 9th – 16th: 1

Grand Prix rankings

[edit]
Position Name Nation Points Prize Money (US$)
1 Cliff Richey  USA 60 25,000
2 Arthur Ashe  USA 55 17,000
3 Ken Rosewall  AUS 53 15,000
4 Rod Laver  AUS 51 12,000
5 Stan Smith  USA 47 10,500
6 Željko Franulović  YUG 35 9,500
7 John Newcombe  AUS 35 8,500
8 Jan Kodeš  CSK 33 7,500
9 Tony Roche  AUS 32 6,500
10 Bob Carmichael  AUS 31 6,000
11 Georges Goven  FRA 25 5,500
12 Ilie Năstase  ROM 25 5,000
13 Dick Crealy  AUS 24 4,500
14 Ray Ruffels  AUS 22 4,000
15 Clark Graebner  USA 22 3,500
16 Dennis Ralston  USA 22 3,000
17 Jaime Fillol  CHI 20 2,500
18 Ion Țiriac  ROM 19 2,000
19 Cliff Drysdale  RSA 19 1,500
20 Roy Emerson  AUS 19 1,000

List of tournament winners

[edit]

The list of winners and number of singles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), alphabetically by last name:

The list of winners and number of doubles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), last name alphabetically:

The list of winners and number of mixed doubles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), alphabetically by last name:

The following players won their first singles title in 1970:

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A Grand Prix circuit for women was introduced in 1971.

References

[edit]
General
  • "1970 Grand Prix". Association of Tennis Professionals.
Specific
  1. ^ "How it All Began". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  2. ^ "Tennis Gets A Grand Prix". The Sydney Morning Herald. Apr 9, 1970.
  3. ^ "Grand Prix Experiment In Tennis Is Planned". The Morning Record. Apr 9, 1970. p. 12.
  4. ^ "Obituaries – Jack Kramer". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 Sep 2009.
  5. ^ "Tennis Assn. Ponders $200,000 Grand Prix". No. The Deseret News. UPI. Jun 23, 1970.
  6. ^ "Tennis Grand Prix picks up more money". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. Aug 14, 1970.
  7. ^ "Richey Clinches Grand Prix Title". The New York Times. Nov 25, 1970.
  8. ^ John Barrett, ed. (1971). World of Tennis '71. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 133–136. ISBN 978-0-362-00091-7.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book (2nd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0.