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The 1968 US Open (formerly known as U.S. National Championships) was a
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
tournament that took place on the outdoor
grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...
s at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States. The tournament ran from 29 August until 8 September. It was the 88th staging of the tournament and the fourth
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
event of 1968. It was the first edition of the tournament in the
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
of tennis and as such for the first time offered prize money, totaling $100,000.
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
and
Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...
won the singles titles. Ashe was still registered as an amateur and therefore not entitled to the $14,000 first-prize money, which instead went to runner-up
Tom Okker Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
, while Wade earned $6,000. Frank Parker, at the age of 52, lost to eventual champion
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
in the second round, and still holds the record for the oldest man to compete in a Grand Slam singles tournament.


Finals


Men's singles

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
defeated
Tom Okker Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
, 14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 :• It was Ashe's 1st career Grand Slam singles title and his 1st and only at the US Open.


Women's singles

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...
defeated
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...
, 6–4, 6–2 :• It was Wade's 1st career Grand Slam singles title and her 1st and only at the US Open.


Men's doubles

Bob Lutz /
Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. Smith is best known to non-tennis players as the namesake of a popular brand of tennis shoes. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles cham ...
defeated
Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
/
Andrés Gimeno Andrés Gimeno Tolaguera (3 August 1937 – 9 October 2019) was a Spanish tennis player. His greatest achievement came in 1972, when he won the French Open and became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the Open era at 34 years of age. ...
, 11–9, 6–1, 7–5 :• It was Lutz's 1st career Grand Slam doubles title. :• It was Smith's 1st career Grand Slam doubles title.


Women's doubles

Maria Bueno Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 Grand Slam titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in women's doubles, and one in m ...
/
Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...
defeated
Rosemary Casals Rosemary "Rosie" Casals (born September 16, 1948) is an American former professional tennis player. Casals earned her reputation as a rebel in the tennis world when she began competing in the early 1960s. During a tennis career that spanned mor ...
/
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...
, 4–6, 9–7, 8–6 :• It was Bueno's 11th and last career Grand Slam doubles title and her 4th at the US Open. :• It was Court's 10th career Grand Slam doubles title and her 2nd at the US Open.


Mixed doubles

No mixed doubles event was held at the 1968 US Open. Results often listed are those of the 1968 U.S. National Championships held a month earlier in Boston.
Mary-Ann Eisel Mary–Ann Eisel (born November 25, 1946) is an American former tennis player. She was the US Open mixed doubles champion in 1968. Personal life Eisel was born in St. Louis, Missouri, was educated in the Ladue School District The Ladue School D ...
/ Peter Curtis defeated
Tory Fretz Tory-Ann Fretz (born August 8, 1942) is a former American amateur and professional tennis player who played in the 1950s and 1960s. She was ranked in the U.S. top ten from 1963 to 1966, and was No. 2 in the doubles rankings in 1965 and 1966. Care ...
/ Gerry Perry 6–4, 7–5


References


External links


Official website of US Open
{{1968 in tennis US Open US Open (tennis) by year
US Open (tennis) The US Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. The other three, in chronological ord ...
US Open (tennis) The US Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. The other three, in chronological ord ...
US Open (tennis) The US Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. The other three, in chronological ord ...
US Open (tennis) The US Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. The other three, in chronological ord ...