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The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional
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 ...
tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and
World Championship Tennis
World Championship Tennis (WCT) was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 (the first players signed a contract at the end of 1967) and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990. A number of tennis tournaments aro ...
(WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
, with the Grand Prix being more prominent.
Background
Before 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 ...
, popular professional tennis players, such as
Suzanne Lenglen and
Vincent Richards
Vincent Richards (March 20, 1903 – September 28, 1959) was an American tennis player. He was active in the early decades of the 20th century, particularly known as being a superlative volleyer. He was ranked World No. 2 as an amateur in 1924 b ...
, were contracted to professional promoters. Amateur players were under the jurisdiction of their national (and international) federations. Later professional promoters, such as
Bill Tilden
William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...
and
Jack Kramer, often convinced leading amateurs like
Pancho Gonzales
Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Singles Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 P ...
and
Rod Laver to join their tours with promises of good prize money. But these successes led to financial difficulties when players were paid too much and falling attendances resulted in reduced takings.
In the early 1960s, the professional tour began to fall apart. It survived only because the
U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, having been unable to give prize money to its 1963 winner, received prize money from the
First National Bank of Boston
BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 199 ...
for its 1964 tournament. At the same time, the concept of "shamateurism" – amateur promoters paying players under the table to ensure they remained amateurs – had become apparent to
Herman David, the chairman of the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...
.
In 1967, David announced that a professional tournament would be held at the
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...
after the
1967 Wimbledon Championships
The 1967 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 26 June until Saturday 8 July 1967. It was the 81st ...
. This tournament was televised by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and built public support for professional tennis. In late 1967, the best of the amateur players turned professional, paving the way for the first open tournament. Some professionals were independent at this time, such as
Lew Hoad
Lewis Alan Hoad (23 November 1934 – 3 July 1994) was an Australian tennis player whose career ran from 1950 to 1973. Hoad won four Major singles tournaments as an amateur (the Australian Championships, French Championships and two Wimbledon ...
,
Luis Ayala, and
Owen Davidson
Owen Keir Davidson (born 4 October 1943) is a former professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s.
Alongside Billie Jean King, Davidson won eight grand slam mixed doubles titles. In 1967 he won a calendar year slam for mixed doubles, wh ...
, but most of the best players came under contract to one of two professional tours:
*The
National Tennis League National Tennis Leagues (NTL) was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1967 by George MacCall. In 1970 it was sold to the World Championship Tennis (WCT), a competing professional tennis league run by Lamar Hunt.
History
The ...
(NTL), run by
George McCall
George Archibald McCall (March 16, 1802 – February 25, 1868) was a United States Army officer who became a brigadier general and prisoner of war during the American Civil War. He was also a naturalist.
Biography
McCall was born in Philadel ...
and
Fred Podesta.
**Rod Laver,
Roy Emerson
Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a caree ...
,
Ken Rosewall
Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player. He won a record 23 Majors in singles, including eight Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a record ...
,
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. ...
, Pancho Gonzales, and
Fred Stolle
Frederick Sydney Stolle, AO (born 8 October 1938) is an Australian former amateur world No. 1 tennis player and commentator. He was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. He is the father of former Australian Davis Cup player Sandon S ...
*World Championship Tennis (WCT), run by David F. Dixon, Albert G. Hill Jr., and
Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an American businessman most notable for his promotion of American football, soccer, and tennis in the United States.
He was the principal founder of the American Football League (AFL) and ...
.
**''Handsome Eight'':
John Newcombe,
Tony Roche
Anthony Dalton Roche AO MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player.
A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga Wagga. He won one Grand Slam singles title, t ...
,
Niki Pilić __NOTOC__
Niki may refer to:
People
* Niki (given name)
* NIKI (singer), Indonesian singer and songwriter
* Niki DeMar, American singer
* Niki Etsuko (1928–1986), Japanese author of mystery fiction
Places
* Niki, Hokkaido, a town in Japan
* ...
,
Roger Taylor,
Pierre Barthès
Pierre Barthès (born 13 September 1941) is a retired French tennis player.
Career
Born in Béziers, Barthès was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an A ...
,
Butch Buchholz
Earl Henry "Butch" Buchholz, Jr. (born September 16, 1940) is a former professional tennis player from the United States who was one of the game's top players in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Tennis career
Juniors
Buchholz was an outstanding ...
,
Cliff Drysdale
Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a well-known tennis announcer.
Drysdale won the singles title at t ...
, and
Dennis Ralston
Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s.
As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University o ...
.
When the Open Era began in 1968, tournaments often found themselves deprived of NTL or WCT players. The first open tournament, the
British Hard Court Championships at
Bournemouth, was played without WCT players, as was that year's French Open. In 1970, NTL players did not play the
Australian Open because their organization did not receive a guarantee.
Formation of the Grand Prix
The manipulation of Grand Slam tournaments by professional promoters at the start of the Open Era led promoter Jack Kramer, the top male tennis player in the world in the 1940s and 1950s, to conceive of the Grand Prix in 1969. He described it as "a series of tournaments with a money bonus pool that would be split up on the basis of a cumulative point system." This would encourage the best players to compete regularly in the series, so that they could share in the bonus at the end and qualify for the special championship tournament climaxing the year.
When only a few contract players showed up for the
1970 French Open, the
International Lawn Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...
(ILTF) approved Kramer's Grand Prix proposal. In April 1970, its president Ben Barnett announced the creation of the Grand Prix circuit, on an experimental basis during its first year.
The first World Championship Tennis tournament was held 20 January 1968 in Sydney, Australia. The first
NTL
NTL may refer to:
Companies
* NTL Incorporated and NTL Internet, later Virgin Media, communications media company
** NTL Ireland, later Virgin Media Ireland
* Arqiva, UK company formerly ''NTL Broadcast'' and ''National Transcommunications L ...
tournament was held 18-21 March 1968 in São Paulo, Brazil. In July 1970, the WCT absorbed the NTL. In 1971, WCT ran a twenty-tournament circuit with the year-ending
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a men's tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. From 1971–1989 the event was held annually in Texas on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifin ...
held in November. At the end of 1970, a panel of journalists had ranked the best players in the world. The best thirty-two men based on this ranking were invited to play the 1971 WCT circuit, which included
Ilie Năstase
Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (, born 19 July 1946) is a former World No. 1 Romanian tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the top position on the computerized ATP rankin ...
,
Stan Smith,
Jan Kodeš
Jan Kodeš (born 1 March 1946) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time major singles champion, Kodeš was one of the premier players in the early 1970s.
Kodeš's greatest success was achieved on the clay courts of the French ...
,
Željko Franulović
Željko Franulović (; born 13 June 1947) is a Croatian former tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia and has since had a long career in tennis management. He has been the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament director since 2005.
Whilst his c ...
, and
Clark Graebner
Clark Graebner (born November 4, 1943) is a retired American professional tennis player.
Early life
Graebner was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of Paul Graebner, a doctor, and his wife, the former Janice Clark. Paul had been a moderat ...
.
The Australian Open was part of the WCT circuit while the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open were Grand Prix events. The conflict between the ILTF (running the Grand Prix) and WCT was so strong that Rosewall, Gimeno, Laver, Emerson, and other WCT players boycotted the
1971 US Open. The third professional circuit that year was the
U. S. Indoor Circuit run by
Bill Riordan
William James Frederick Riordan CBE (8 February 1908 – 15 January 1973) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1936 to 1966, representing the Division ...
, the future manager of
Jimmy Connors.
In July 1971, the ILTF voted to ban all WCT contract professionals from competing in ILTF tournaments and from using ILTF facilities from the beginning of 1972 onwards. The 1972 editions of the
French Open and the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...
excluded all contract professional players. Then in April 1972, the ILTF and WCT agreed to divide the 1973 tour into a WCT circuit that ran from January through May and a Grand Prix circuit that ran for the rest of the year. The conflict between the ILTF and WCT led all tennis players to attend the
1972 US Open where they agreed to form their own syndicate, the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, a ...
(ATP), through the efforts of Jack Kramer,
Donald Dell
Donald L. Dell (born June 17, 1938) is an American sports attorney, writer, commentator, and former tennis player. Dell was the first sports agent in professional tennis, and represented Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl duri ...
, and Cliff Drysdale.
In 1973, there were four rival professional circuits: the WCT circuit battled with the U. S. Indoor Circuit from January to April and the Grand Prix until July; both tours competed with the "European Spring Circuit" until June.
In that same year, the ATP created controversy by calling for a boycott of the
1973 Wimbledon Championships
The 1973 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was scheduled to be held from Monday 25 June ...
after one of its members, Niki Pilić, was suspended by the
Yugoslav Tennis Federation for failing to play in a
Davis Cup tie against New Zealand. The ATP boycott went ahead after negotiations failed, with only three members of the organisation – Roger Taylor, Ilie Năstase, and
Ray Keldie – breaking the picket. They were later fined for this. The men's draws for that year were subsequently made up of second-string players, lucky losers, and older players such as
Neale Fraser
Neale Andrew Fraser (born 3 October 1933) is a former number one amateur male tennis-player from Australia, born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of a Victorian judge. Fraser is the last man to have completed the triple crown, i.e. having won ...
, who reached the final of the men's doubles with fellow Australian
John Cooper. The draw also showcased future talents such as
Björn Borg,
Vijay Amritraj
Vijay Amritraj (born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, in 1983.In 2022, he was honored for his cont ...
,
Sandy Mayer
Alexander "Sandy" Mayer (born April 5, 1952) is a former tennis player from the United States. He won twelve titles in singles and twenty-four titles in doubles in his professional career, and was part of the winning tennis squad at Stanford Un ...
, and
John Lloyd amid record crowds.
Governance
The governance of the Grand Prix was led by the
Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC) from 1974 through 1989. (Its name was shortened to the Men's Tennis Council (MTC) in 1988.) The MIPTC's duties included imposing fines for violations of its Code of Conduct, drug testing, and administrating the Grand Prix circuit. It also moved the Australian Open from its December date – which had been adopted in 1977 so that it could be included in the Grand Prix points system – to January for the 1987 edition so that the
Grand Prix Masters
Grand Prix Masters was a one-make motor racing series featuring retired Formula One drivers. The inaugural (and sole 2005) event, at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa, took place on 11–13 November, but the series folded after a t ...
could be held in December from 1986 onwards. It failed, however, to prevent the number of tournaments on the Grand Prix circuit from growing, with 48 being held in 1974 compared to 75 in 1989.
Integration and the end
The WCT and Grand Prix circuits were separate until 1978, when the Grand Prix circuit integrated the WCT circuit. In 1982, the WCT circuit split from the Grand Prix again and created a more complex WCT ranking, similar to the ATP ranking. The split was short-lived, however, and in 1985 the Grand Prix absorbed the four remaining WCT tournaments.
During the
1988 US Open the ATP, led by then-World No. 1
Mats Wilander
Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven major singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one major ...
, staged an impromptu meeting known as the "Parking Lot Press Conference" during failed negotiations with the MTC over the organisation of the Grand Prix and key issues such as player fatigue. During this press conference, the ATP declared that it would be starting its own tour in 1990, meaning that the 1989 Grand Prix would effectively be its last. The final event of the Grand Prix was the
Nabisco Masters Doubles held at the
Royal Albert Hall 6-10 December 1989. Its last champions were
Jim Grabb
Jim Grabb (born April 14, 1964) is an American former professional tennis player. In doubles, he won the 1989 French Open and the 1992 US Open. He was ranked the world No. 1 doubles player in both 1989 and 1993. His best singles ranking of world ...
and
Patrick McEnroe
Patrick William McEnroe (born July 1, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player, broadcaster, and former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.
Born in Manhasset, New York, he is John McEnroe's youngest brother. He won one ...
, who beat
John Fitzgerald and
Anders Järryd
Anders Per Järryd (; born 13 July 1961) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. During his career he won eight Grand Slam doubles titles (three French Open, two Wimbledon, two US Open, one Australian Open), reached the world No ...
in the final.
Formation of the ATP Tour
In 1990, the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, a ...
, led by
Hamilton Jordan
William Hamilton McWhorter Jordan () (September 21, 1944 – May 20, 2008) was an American politician who served as Chief of Staff to President of the United States Jimmy Carter.
Early life
Jordan was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the son ...
, replaced the MTC as the sole governing body of men's professional tennis and the ATP Tour was born. The nine most prestigious Grand Prix tournaments became known as the "Championship Series Single Week" from 1990 through 1995. In 1996,
Mercedes began sponsoring these series of events, renamed as the "Super 9" until 1999. In 2000, they became known as the "Tennis Masters Series" until 2004, then the "ATP Masters Series" until 2009. They are now called the
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
. Grand Prix tournaments below this level were originally called the
Grand Prix Super Series
The Grand Prix Super Series of men's tennis tournaments was part of the Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis tours between 1970 and 1989. They were held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. These tournamen ...
. They were retained by the ATP and renamed as the "
Championship Series". All remaining Grand Prix Tour events became part of the "
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
".
Sponsors and Grand Prix tour names
Based on USLTA Tennis Yearbooks and Guides and
World of Tennis
''World of Tennis'' was the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) official tennis annual until it was replaced by The ITF Year. It was published annually beginning in 1969 and became an official ITF publication in 1981. ''World of Tennis'' was ...
yearbooks the history of sponsors is as follows:
*
1970 Pepsi-Cola Grand Prix
*
1971 Pepsi-Cola Grand Prix
The 1971 Pepsi Cola Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year. It incorporated three of the four grand slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tournaments. It was the second edition of the Grand Prix circuit and was run by the Intern ...
*
1972 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix
*
1973 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix
*
1974 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix
The 1974 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a professional 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 th ...
*
1975 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix
The 1975 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a professional 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 t ...
*
1976 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix
The 1976 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a professional 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 th ...
*
1977 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix
The 1977 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF, later the ITF) which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour ...
*
1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix
*
1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix
The 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of four Grand Slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tournaments and the Nations Cup, a team event.
Schedule
The table below shows the 1979 Colgat ...
*
1980 Volvo Grand Prix
*
1981 Volvo Grand Prix
*
1982 Volvo Grand Prix
*
1983 Volvo Grand Prix
*
1984 Volvo Grand Prix
The 1984 Volvo Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year. It incorporated the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tournaments and two team events (World Team Cup, Davis Cup).
Schedule
The table below shows the 1984 Volv ...
*
1985 Nabisco Grand Prix
*
1986 Nabisco Grand Prix
*
1987 Nabisco Grand Prix
*
1988 Nabisco Grand Prix
The 1988 Nabisco Grand Prix was the only men's tennis circuit held that year. It incorporated the four grand slam (tennis), grand slam tournaments, three World Championship Tennis tournaments and the Grand Prix tennis circuit, Grand Prix tournamen ...
*
1989 Nabisco Grand Prix
Grand Prix season-end rankings
''
NB: All rankings were calculated using the Grand Prix points system and do not necessarily reflect the ATP rankings at the same time.''
1970
#
C. Richey
#
A. Ashe
#
K. Rosewall
#
R. Laver
#
S. Smith
#
Ž. Franulović
#
J. Newcombe
#
J. Kodeš
#
T. Roche
#
B. Carmichael
1971
# S. Smith
#
I. Năstase
# Ž. Franulović
# J. Kodeš
# C. Richey
# J. Newcombe
#
P. Barthès
# K. Rosewall
#
C. Graebner
#
To. Gorman
1972
# I. Năstase
# S. Smith
#
M. Orantes
# J. Kodeš
#
A. Gimeno
#
B. Hewitt
#
J. Connors
# To. Gorman
#
A. Pattison
#
P. Proisy
1973
# I. Năstase
# J. Newcombe
#
T. Okker
# J. Connors
# M. Orantes
# J. Kodeš
# S. Smith
# To. Gorman
#
B. Borg
# A. Ashe
1974
#
G. Vilas
# J. Connors
# M. Orantes
# B. Borg
#
R. Ramírez
# I. Năstase
#
O. Parun
#
H. Solomon
# A. Ashe
# S. Smith
1975
# G. Vilas
# M. Orantes
# B. Borg
# A. Ashe
# I. Năstase
# J. Connors
# R. Ramírez
#
A. Panatta
# H. Solomon
#
E. Dibbs
1976
# R. Ramírez
# M. Orantes
# J. Connors
# E. Dibbs
# H. Solomon
# G. Vilas
#
R. Tanner
#
W. Fibak
#
B. Gottfried
# B. Borg
1977
# G. Vilas
# B. Gottfried
# B. Borg
# M. Orantes
# E. Dibbs
# R. Tanner
# R. Ramírez
# J. Connors
#
V. Gerulaitis
# H. Solomon
1978
# J. Connors
# B. Borg
# E. Dibbs
# R. Ramírez
# H. Solomon
#
J. McEnroe
# G. Vilas
# B. Gottfried
#
C. Barazzutti
# A. Ashe
1979
# J. McEnroe
# B. Borg
# J. Connors
# G. Vilas
# V. Gerulaitis
# R. Tanner
#
J. Higueras
# H. Solomon
# E. Dibbs
#
V. Pecci
1980
# J. McEnroe
#
I. Lendl
# J. Connors
# B. Borg
#
G. Mayer
# H. Solomon
# G. Vilas
#
J. L. Clerc
#
E. Teltscher
#
B. Teacher
1981
# I. Lendl
# J. McEnroe
# J. Connors
# J. L. Clerc
# G. Vilas
# B. Borg
# R. Tanner
# E. Teltscher
# V. Gerulaitis
#
Y. Noah
1982
# J. Connors
# G. Vilas
# I. Lendl
# J. McEnroe
#
M. Wilander
# V. Gerulaitis
# J. Higueras
#
J. Kriek
#
A. Gómez
#
S. Denton
1983
# M. Wilander
# I. Lendl
# J. McEnroe
# J. Connors
# Y. Noah
#
J. Arias
# J. Higueras
# A. Gómez
# J. L. Clerc
# E. Teltscher
1984
# J. McEnroe
# J. Connors
# I. Lendl
# M. Wilander
# A. Gómez
#
J. Nyström
#
H. Sundström
# E. Teltscher
#
A. Järryd
#
T. Šmíd
1985
# I. Lendl
# J. McEnroe
# M. Wilander
#
S. Edberg
#
B. Becker
# J. Connors
# Y. Noah
# A. Järryd
# J. Kriek
# J. Nyström
1986
# I. Lendl
# B. Becker
# S. Edberg
# J. Nyström
# Y. Noah
# M. Wilander
#
H. Leconte
# A. Gómez
# J. Connors
#
M. Mečíř
1987
# I. Lendl
# S. Edberg
# M. Wilander
# M. Mečíř
# B. Becker
# J. Connors
#
P. Cash
#
B. Gilbert
#
T. Mayotte
# A. Gómez
1988
# M. Wilander
# B. Becker
# S. Edberg
#
A. Agassi
# I. Lendl
# H. Leconte
# J. Connors
# T. Mayotte
#
J. Hlasek
#
K. Carlsson
1989
# I. Lendl
# B. Becker
# S. Edberg
# B. Gilbert
# J. McEnroe
#
M. Chang
# A. Agassi
#
A. Krickstein
#
A. Mancini
#
J. Berger
Grand Prix circuit winners
See also
*
History of tennis
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 ...
*
World Championship Tennis tour
*
Tennis Pro Tours
For many years before the Open Era of tennis in 1968, the usual format for the handful of touring tennis professionals was a series of two-man one-night stands across the United States and often in other countries as well. The most notable of these ...
*
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
References
Further reading
*
Bud Collins
Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. (June 17, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen.
Education
Collins was b ...
''History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book'' New Chapter Press, USA, 2nd Edition, 2010. . Accessed 11 October 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Prix Tennis Circuit
Defunct tennis tours
Recurring sporting events established in 1970
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1989