World Championship Tennis

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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 around the world were affiliated to WCT and players were ranked in a special WCT ranking according to their results in those tournaments.

Contents 1 History 2 WCT by year 2.1 WCT 1985 2.2 WCT 1986 2.3 WCT 1987 2.4 WCT 1988 2.5 WCT 1989 2.6 WCT 1990 3 WCT Men’s Singles Finals 4 WCT final standings by year (Top Ten) 5 WCT Challenge Cup 5.1 List of WCT Challenge Cup winners 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] History

World Championship Tennis was founded by New Orleans sports promoter David Dixon who had earlier witnessed the deplorable conditions of the professional circuit before the open era. WCT became the major professional tennis tour of players under contract of the early seventies. It was also revolutionary; instituting a tie-breaker system and outfitting players with colored clothing, a radical idea at that time. WCT also strongly encouraged the audience to cheer for players, rather than politely applaud, as the more staid tennis audiences had done before. They publicly emphasized their prize money structure and special bonus pool as an incentive to attract players.

After starting with the "Handsome Eight", the original eight players (Dennis Ralston, John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Cliff Drysdale, Earl Buchholz, Niki Pilić, Roger Taylor and Pierre Barthès), the first WCT tournament was held in March 1968 and the WCT circuit grew to 21 tournaments in 1971 (including the Australian Open) around the globe, the first solid professional tour.^{[citation needed]} By Spring 1970, the WCT had signed other players (Marty Riessen, Ray Moore, Tom Okker, Arthur Ashe) and absorbed the other major professional organization, the National Tennis League (NTL), which had under contract some of the top-ranked pros of the day, including Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Andrés Gimeno, Pancho Gonzáles, Roy Emerson, and Fred Stolle.

At the end of the 1971 WCT season the top eight players from the regular season were seeded according to their WCT rankings and played a championship tournament in November. This tournament was held about two weeks before the similar championship of the rival Grand Prix circuit, called the The Masters. For commercial reasons, from 1972 this championship was usually held in the spring in Dallas, Texas. This WCT major event was also called Dallas WCT Finals (or WCT Masters to distinguish it from the Grand Prix Masters) and was played on indoor carpet. The last championship was held in 1989.

The WCT tour was merged into the Grand Prix circuit in 1978. The WCT withdrew from 1982 to 1984, and at this time sued the Men's Tennis Council who organized the Grand Prix circuit. An settlement resulted in WCT's reincorporation into the Grand Prix in 1985.

1989 was the last season of WCT. The Association of Tennis Professionals established its own tennis circuit from 1990. Though WCT had had great impact on the evolution of professional tennis, the WCT tournaments were not held in as high regard as other tournaments, with the exception of the Dallas WCT Finals and Tournament of Champions held in Forest Hills during 1980s.

[edit] WCT by year

[edit] WCT 1985

WCT tournaments returned to the Grand Prix stage after a three-year absence during 1982-84. There were only 4 events. The titles were split between Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, winning two each. While McEnroe entered into all four, Lendl played just two and won both. McEnroe grabbed WCT Houston title beating Kevin Curren in the final.

The WCT Finals in Dallas saw the unexpected defeat of McEnroe in the quarter-finals by Joakim Nyström in three straight sets. The title was captured by Lendl, whose success completed a triplicate of titles in three weeks: Ft. Myers on hard, Monte Carlo on clay and Dallas on carpet. Other players have won three, even four, tournaments in successive weeks in the Open Era, but never on different surfaces.^{[citation needed]}

In Atlanta, McEnroe won the final over Paul Annacone, prevailing in three close sets. The WCT Tournament of Champions (WCT ToC) in Forest Hills ended with much anticipated final between Lendl and McEnroe. Despite winning only 2 of his last 12 matches over McEnroe in ATP tournaments, Lendl beat McEnroe 6-3 6-3.

Date Final	Tournament	Commercial Name	Category	Prize Money/ Surface	Final Match	Semifinal Matches
Mar 3	Houston, USA	WCT Houston Shoot-Out	Nabisco Grand Prix	$300,000 Carpet	John McEnroe d. Kevin Curren, 7-5, 6-1, 7-6	John McEnroe d. Peter Fleming, 6-4, 6-0 Kevin Curren d. Shahar Perkiss, 6-2, 6-2
April 14	Dallas, USA	Buick WCT Finals	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Carpet	Ivan Lendl d. Tim Mayotte, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1	Ivan Lendl d. Jimmy Connors, 6-3, 2-1 ret. Tim Mayotte d. Joakim Nystrom, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
April 28	Atlanta, USA	WCT Atlanta	Nabisco Grand Prix	$300,000 Carpet	John McEnroe d. Paul Annacone, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2	John McEnroe d. Mike Leach, 6-3, 6-3 Paul Annacone d. Kevin Curren, w.o.
May 12	Forest Hills, New York, USA	Shearson Lehman Brothers Tournament of Champions	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Clay (Har-Tru)	Ivan Lendl d. John McEnroe, 6-3, 6-3	Ivan Lendl d. Aaron Krickstein, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 John McEnroe d. Henrik Sundström, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2

[edit] WCT 1986

The WCT Atlanta tournament was negatively marked by early exists of both top seeds, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, in the 1st round. Edberg lost to Mikael Pernfors and Becker to eventual runner-up Tim Wilkison. In Dallas, Anders Järryd was the unexpected winner, having replaced the injured Ivan Lendl in the 12-player draw.

Date Final	Tournament	Commercial Name	Category	Prize Money/ Surface	Final Match	Semifinal Matches
April 6	Atlanta, USA	WCT Atlanta	Nabisco Grand Prix	$220,000 Carpet	Kevin Curren d. Tim Wilkison, 7-6, 7-6	Kevin Curren d. Brian Teacher, 6-4, 6-2 Tim Wilkison d. David Pate, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
April 13	Dallas, USA	Buick WCT Finals	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Carpet	Anders Järryd d. Boris Becker, 6-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4	Anders Järryd d. Mats Wilander, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 Boris Becker d. Stefan Edberg 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6
May 11	Forest Hills, New York, USA	Shearson Lehman Brothers Tournament of Champions	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Clay (Har-Tru)	Yannick Noah d. Guillermo Vilas, 7-6, 6-0	Yannick Noah d. Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 7-5 Guillermo Vilas d. Martín Jaite, 6-3, 6-3
Oct 12	Scottsdale, USA	WCT Scottsdale Open	Nabisco Grand Prix	$220,000 Hard	John McEnroe d. Kevin Curren, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2	John McEnroe d. David Pate, 6-3, 6-3 Kevin Curren d. Todd Witsken, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4
Nov 23	Houston, USA	WCT Houston Shoot-Out	Nabisco Grand Prix	$220,000 Carpet	Slobodan Živojinović d. Scott Davis, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3	Slobodan Živojinović d. Derrick Rostagno, 6-4, 6-4 Scott Davis d. Eliot Teltscher, 7-5, 6-4

[edit] WCT 1987

Date Final	Tournament	Commercial Name	Category	Prize Money/ Surface	Final Match	Semifinal Matches
April 12	Dallas, USA	WCT Finals	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Carpet	Miloslav Mečíř d. John McEnroe, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2	Miloslav Mečíř d. Andrés Gómez, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 John McEnroe d. Stefan Edberg, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
May 10	Forest Hills, New York, USA	Shearson Lehman Brothers Tournament of Champions	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Clay (Har-Tru)	Andrés Gómez d. Yannick Noah, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6	Andrés Gómez d. Boris Becker, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Yannick Noah d. Slobodan Živojinović, 6-3, 7-5
October 11	Scottsdale, USA	WCT Scottsdale Open	Nabisco Grand Prix	$232,000 Hard	Brad Gilbert d. Eliot Teltscher, 6-2, 6-2	Brad Gilbert d. Michael Chang 6-3, 6-4 Eliot Teltscher d. David Pate 7-6, 7-5

[edit] WCT 1988

Date Final	Tournament	Commercial Name	Category	Prize Money/ Surface	Final Match	Semifinal Matches
April 3	Dallas, USA	WCT Finals	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Carpet	Boris Becker d. Stefan Edberg, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2	Boris Becker d. Brad Gilbert, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 Stefan Edberg d. Yannick Noah, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
May 8	Forest Hills, New York, USA	Eagle Tournament of Champions	Nabisco Grand Prix	$485,000 Clay (Har-Tru)	Andre Agassi d. Slobodan Živojinović, 7-5, 7-6, 7-5	Andre Agassi d. Aaron Krickstein, 6-3, 6-3 Slobodan Živojinović d. Luiz Mattar, 7-6, 6-3
October 9	Scottsdale, USA	WCT Eagle Classic	Nabisco Grand Prix	$297,000 Hard	Mikael Pernfors d. Glenn Layendecker, 6-2, 6-4	Mikael Pernfors d. Kevin Curren, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 Glenn Layendecker d. Jim Pugh, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

[edit] WCT 1989

1989 was the final year of the WCT tour. Only 3 events were organized, all of them were incorporated into the Nabisco Grand Prix and gaining ATP Ranking points.

The 19th (and the last) WCT Finals in Reunion Arena, Dallas saw John McEnroe win his 5th Dallas title. His semi-final with Ivan Lendl produced the best match of the tournament and McEnroe managed to beat Lendl first time for a little more than three and a half years. The tournament was negatively impacted by the withdrawals of Boris Becker (who did not appear at all) and Andre Agassi (walking off court during 2nd set match with McEnroe). Brad Gilbert entered the event to fill the gap for Becker and surprisingly made it to the final. Later in spring, Lendl captured last two WCT titles in Scottsdale and Forest Hills^[1] to close the WCT era.

Date Final	Tournament	Commercial Name	Category	Prize Money/ Surface	Final Match	Semifinal Matches
March 5	Dallas, USA	WCT Finals	Nabisco Grand Prix	$500,000 Carpet	John McEnroe d. Brad Gilbert, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6	John McEnroe d. Ivan Lendl, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 7-5 Brad Gilbert d. Mikael Pernfors, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
March 12	Scottsdale, USA	WCT Eagle Classic	Nabisco Grand Prix	$297,000 Hard	Ivan Lendl d. Stefan Edberg, 6-2, 6-3	Ivan Lendl d. Emilio Sánchez, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 Stefan Edberg d. Amos Mansdorf, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1
May 8	Forest Hills, New York, USA	Eagle Tournament of Champions	Nabisco Grand Prix	$485,000 Clay (Har-Tru)	Ivan Lendl d. Jaime Yzaga, 6-2, 6-1	Ivan Lendl d. Andre Agassi, 6-2, 6-3 Jaime Yzaga d. Michael Chang, 6-4, 6-3

[edit] WCT 1990

There was no WCT tour in 1990, when the ATP established its own circuit named the ATP Tour, however there was one (final^[2]) tournament sanctioned by WCT. The Forest Hills WCT at West Side Tennis Club was moved from Har-Tru green clay to hardcourts and run as special non-ATP Tour event. Ivan Lendl stamped his WCT dominance winning the very last title.

Date Final	Tournament	Commercial Name	Category	Prize Money/ Surface	Final Match	Semifinal Matches
Aug 26	Forest Hills, New York, USA	WCT Tournament of Champions	Special event	$500,000 Hard	Ivan Lendl d. Aaron Krickstein, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3	Ivan Lendl d. Henri Leconte, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1,

[edit] WCT Men’s Singles Finals

Main article: WCT Finals

The WCT Finals were usually held in Dallas, Texas. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. The 1972-1979 editions were played at Moody Coliseum, and the 1980-1989 tournaments at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score in final
1971	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6
1972	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
1972 winter[3]	Arthur Ashe	Bob Lutz	6-2 3-6 6-3 3-6 7-6
1973	Stan Smith	Arthur Ashe	6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
1974	John Newcombe	Björn Borg	4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
1975	Arthur Ashe	Björn Borg	3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0
1976	Björn Borg	Guillermo Vilas	1-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-1
1977	Jimmy Connors	Dick Stockton	6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
1978	Vitas Gerulaitis	Eddie Dibbs	6-3, 6-2, 6-1
1979	John McEnroe	Björn Borg	7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6
1980	Jimmy Connors	John McEnroe	2-6, 7-6, 6-1, 6-2
1981	John McEnroe	Johan Kriek	6-1, 6-2, 6-4
1982	Ivan Lendl	John McEnroe	6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
1982 fall[4]	Ivan Lendl	Wojciech Fibak	6-4, 6-2, 6-1
1982 winter[5]	Ivan Lendl	Guillermo Vilas	7-5, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
1983	John McEnroe	Ivan Lendl	6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
1984	John McEnroe	Jimmy Connors	6-1, 6-2, 6-3
1985	Ivan Lendl	Tim Mayotte	7-6, 6-4, 6-1
1986	Anders Järryd	Boris Becker	6-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4
1987	Miloslav Mečíř	John McEnroe	6-0, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
1988	Boris Becker	Stefan Edberg	6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
1989	John McEnroe	Brad Gilbert	6-3, 6-3, 7-6

The first edition of the WCT Finals in 1971 was played in November, just a few days before The Masters, the equivalent of the WCT Finals for the rival Grand Prix circuit. Because of TV pressure, the second edition was held in May 1972 and most of the following editions were organized in between months of March and May. Nevertheless in 1972 another edition, less important and with half the prize money, was held in November in Rome. The prize money offered to the winner, Arthur Ashe, was US$25,000 compared to the US$50,000 won by Ken Rosewall for the main edition in May.

A decade later there were three editions of the WCT Finals; the most important one in Dallas, and the others in autumn in Naples, Italy, and in winter (in January 1983) in Detroit.

[edit] WCT final standings by year (Top Ten)

1971

• 1 Rod Laver
• 2 Tom Okker
• 3 Ken Rosewall
• 4 Cliff Drysdale
• 5 Arthur Ashe
• 6 John Newcombe
• 7 Marty Riessen
• 8 Bob Lutz
• 9 Roy Emerson
• 10 Andres Gimeno

1972

(in fact second part of 1971 and first part of 1972)

• 1 Rod Laver
• 2 Ken Rosewall
• 3 Tom Okker
• 4 Cliff Drysdale
• 5 Marty Riessen
• 6 Arthur Ashe
• 7 Bob Lutz
• 8 John Newcombe
• 9 Roy Emerson
• 9 Charlie Pasarell

1972

(second part final standings). The first eight players played the 1972 autumn-winter WCT Finals held in Rome.

• 1 John Newcombe
• 2 Arthur Ashe
• 3 Tom Okker
• 4 Mark Cox
• 5 Cliff Drysdale
• 5 Marty Riessen
• 7 Bob Lutz
• 7 Niki Pilic
• 9 Roy Emerson
• 9 Anthony Roche
• 9 El Shafei

1973

the players were separated into two groups, A & B, with each group playing certain tournaments. The top 4 from each group qualified for the final at the end of the season.

Group A

• 1 Stan Smith
• 2 Rod Laver
• 3 Roy Emerson
• 3 John Alexander
• 5 Cliff Richey
• 6 Dick Stockton
• 7 Bob Lutz
• 8 Brian Gottfried
• 9 Colin Dibley
• 10 J Fillol

Group B

• 1 Ken Rosewall
• 2 Arthur Ashe
• 3 Marty Riessen
• 4 Roger Taylor
• 4 Mark Cox
• 6 Brian Fairlie
• 7 Jan Kodes
• 8 Tom Okker
• 9 Roscoe Tanner
• 10 Tom Gorman

1974

the group was divided into three groups, Red, Blue and Green and the top 8 points winners qualified for the final (marked with *) : 2 players by group plus the other two players having most points. Each group played separate tournaments except the Philadelphia tournament at the start of the season.

Red Group

• 1 Nastase*
• 2 Okker*
• 3 Gorman
• 4 Drysdale
• 5 Pilic
• 6 Pattison
• 7 John Alexander
• 8 Riessen
• 9 Anthony Roche
• 10 McMillan

Blue Group

• 1 John Newcombe*
• 2 Smith*
• 3 Metreveli
• 4 Stockton
• 5 Hrebec
• 6 Borowiak
• 7 Ross Case
• 8 Ramirez
• 9 Fillol
• 10 Richey

Green Group

• 1 Ashe*
• 2 Rod Laver*
• 3 Borg*
• 4 Kodes*
• 5 Cox
• 6 Tanner
• 7 Dibbs
• 8 Taylor
• 9 Panatta
• 10 Parun

1975

the group was divided into three groups again, Red, Blue and Green and the top 8 points winners qualified for the final (marked with *). Each group played separate tournaments except the Philadelphia tournament at the start of the season.

Red Group

• 1 John Alexander*
• 2 Solomon*
• 3 Cox*
• 4 Smith
• 5 Stockton
• 6 Lutz
• 7 Dent
• 8 Drysdale
• 9 Amritraj
• 9 Riessen

Blue Group

• 1 Laver*
• 2 Tanner*
• 3 Ramirez*
• 4 Gottfried
• 5 Gerulaitus
• 6 Fillol
• 7 Stone
• 8 Pattison
• 9 Borowiak
• 9 El Shafei

Green Group

• 1 Ashe*
• 2 Borg*
• 3 Okker
• 4 Mottram
• 5 Hewitt
• 6 Parun
• 7 Warwick
• 8 Higueras
• 9 Dominguez
• 10 Giltinan

1976-1983: All the players were put back together and played the same tournaments.

1976

• 1 Ashe
• 2 Ramirez
• 3 Vilas
• 4 Dibbs
• 5 Borg
• 6 Stockton
• 7 Lutz
• 8 Solomon
• 9 Gerulaitis
• 10 Gottfried

1977

• 1 Stockton
• 2 Dibbs
• 3 Connors
• 4 Nastase
• 5 Drysdale
• 5 Fibak
• 5 Gerulaitis
• 8 Panatta
• 9 Barazzutti
• 10 Solomon
• 10 Rosewall

1978

• 1 Gerulaitis
• 2 Borg
• 3 Dibbs
• 4 Ramirez
• 5 Nastase
• 6 S Mayer
• 7 Connors
• 7 Gottfried
• 9 Stockton
• 10 Barazzutti

1979

• 1 McEnroe
• 2 Borg
• 3 Gerulaitis
• 4 Connors
• 5 Tanner
• 6 G Mayer
• 7 Ashe
• 7 Vilas
• 9 Masters
• 10 Alexander
• 10 Gottfried
• 10 Nastase

1980

• 1 McEnroe
• 2 Scanlon
• 3 Connors
• 4 Lendl
• 4 Tanner
• 6 Gunthardt
• 6 V Amritraj
• 8 Sadri
• 8 Clerc
• 10 Gottfried
• 10 G Mayer

1981

• 1 Tanner
• 2 Connors
• 3 Fibak
• 4 Noah
• 5 McEnroe
• 6 V Amritraj
• 7 Gottfried
• 8 Gerulaitis
• 9 S Mayer
• 10 G Mayer

1982

WCT expanded from the previous year and broke away from the Grand Prix for the year. There were three finals, Spring (Dallas) the most important one, Fall (Naples, Italy) and Winter (Detroit) and therefore three different points tables for each season :

Spring

• 1 Lendl
• 2 Clerc
• 3 Fibak
• 4 V Amritraj
• 5 Smid
• 6 McNamara
• 7 McEnroe
• 8 Gerulaitis
• 9 Taroczy
• 10 Dibbs

Summer/Fall

• 1 Lendl
• 2 Smid
• 3 Clerc
• 4 Vilas
• 5 Kriek
• 6 Higueras
• 7 Gunthardt
• 7 Fibak
• 9 Tanner
• 10 Bourne

Winter

• 1 Fibak
• 2 Scanlon
• 3 Curren
• 3 Vilas
• 5 Taroczy
• 6 McNamee
• 7 Lendl
• 7 Teacher
• 9 Tom Gullikson
• 9 Smid

1983

there were only 9 tournaments and the WCT were back with the Grand Prix circuit.

• 1 Lendl
• 2 McEnroe
• 3 Vilas
• 4 Gerulaitis
• 5 Clerc
• 6 McNamee
• 7 Smid
• 8 Fibak
• 9 Taroczy
• 10 Scanlon

[edit] WCT Challenge Cup

Some special events such as the Aetna World Cup (where the Australian pros and the US pros faced in a team event because in 1970, at the start of this event, contract pro players weren't allowed to enter the Davis Cup) or the Challenge Cup (a 8-man tournament) were held by the WCT organization.

[edit] List of WCT Challenge Cup winners

• 1976 - Honolulu - Ilie Nastase defeated Arthur Ashe, 6–3, 1–6, 6–7, 6–3, 6–1
• 1976/7 - Las Vegas - Ilie Nastase defeated Jimmy Connors, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 7–5
• 1977 - Las Vegas - Jimmy Connors defeated Roscoe Tanner, 6–2, 5–6, 3–6, 6–2, 6–5
• 1978 - Montego Bay - Ilie Nastase defeated Peter Fleming, 2–6, 5–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4
• 1979 - Montreal - Björn Borg defeated Jimmy Connors, 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
• 1980 - Montreal - John McEnroe defeated Vijay Amritraj, 6–1, 6–2, 6–1

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

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