Rodney George Laver is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was ranked the world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969 and by some sources also in 1964 and 1970. He was also ranked as the number 1 amateur in 1961 and 1962. Laver won 198 singles titles which is the most won by a singles tennis player in history.
Ivan Lendl is a Czech–American former professional tennis player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl was ranked world No. 1 in singles for 270 weeks and won 94 singles titles. He won eight major singles titles and was runner-up a joint record 11 times, making him the first man to contest 19 major finals. Lendl also contested a record eight consecutive US Open finals, and won seven year-end championships.
Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including a record 15 Pro Majors and eight Grand Slam titles for a total 23 titles at pro and amateur majors. He also won 15 Pro Majors in doubles and nine Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosewall achieved a Pro Slam in singles in 1963 by winning the three Pro Majors in one year and he completed the Career Grand Slam in doubles.
Anthony Dalton Roche AO MBE is an Australian former professional tennis player.
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant tennis event in men's annual calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results throughout the season. The eighth spot is reserved, if needed, for a player or team who won a major in the current year and are ranked from 8th–20th. The tournament is sometimes referred to as a "5th Grand Slam," due to the prestige that comes with qualifying for and winning the event.
The ILTF Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with the Grand Prix being more prominent.
World Championship Tennis (WCT) was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990. A number of tennis tournaments around the world were affiliated with WCT and players were ranked in a special WCT ranking according to their results in those tournaments.
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 sport with more complex rules. Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor and it is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand, hence the name jeu de paume. It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use and the game began to be called 'tennis'. It was popular in England and France, and Henry VIII of England was a big fan of the game, now referred to as real tennis.
The Irish Open and originally known as the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships and for sponsorship reasons also known as Carroll's Irish Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament held at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland. Before the creation of the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the establishment of its world championship events in 1913, it was considered by players and historians one of the four most important tennis tournaments to win. the others being Wimbledon, the U.S. National championships and the Northern Championships. The men's event was part of the pre-open era tour from inception until 1967. It was then part of the open era non-aligned independent tour (1968–69). From 1970 to 1974, it was an event on the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The women's event was on the same tours as the men except for when it became part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour from 1971 to 1973. The men's edition was played until 1979, and the women's ended in 1983.
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 tournaments were the most prestigious and highest level events of the Grand Prix Tour after the majors and year-end championships. They had six name changes from 1970 through to 1977: Group One, Group B, Group A, Group AA, 5 Star and 6 Star, before settling on a consistent naming format called "Super Series" from 1978 until 1989.
The Miami Open is a defunct men's tennis tournament that was played on the WCT circuit from 1968, 1971–1974 and the Grand Prix tennis circuit from 1977–1978. The event was played on outdoor hard courts in 1968, 1971–1974, outdoor clay courts in 1977, and indoor carpet courts in 1978. The event was held in Miami, Florida.
The 1976 World Championship Tennis circuit was one of the two rival professional men's tennis circuits of 1976. It was organized by World Championship Tennis (WCT) and consisted of a schedule of 25 tournaments leading up to a singles WCT Finals play-off in Dallas and a doubles play-off in Kansas City in May. A total of 54 players participated, 30 players less than in the previous three years, and the group system used in the previous editions was replaced by a single pool. The U.S. Pro Indoor was the only tournament in which all players participated, all other tournaments had a 16 men draw. The season final was played by the eight best performers and was won by the Swede Björn Borg who defeated Guillermo Vilas from Argentina in four sets. The total prize money for the 1976 WCT circuit was $2,400,000, including a $320,000 Avis Challenge Cup round–robin special event played in Hawaii in January and May.
This article covers the period from 1877 to present. Before the beginning of the Open Era in April 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in established tennis tournaments, including the four Grand Slam tournaments. Wimbledon, the oldest of the majors, was founded in 1877, followed by the US Open in 1881, the French Open in 1891 and the Australian Open in 1905. Beginning in 1905 and continuing to the present day, all four majors have been played yearly, with the exception of during the two World Wars, 1986 for the Australian Open, and 2020 for Wimbledon. The Australian Open is the first major of the year (January), followed by the French Open (May–June), Wimbledon (June–July) and the US Open (August–September). There was no prize money and players were compensated for travel expenses only. A player who wins all four majors, in singles or as part of a doubles team, in the same calendar year is said to have achieved a "Grand Slam". If the player wins all four consecutively, but not in the same calendar year, it is called a "Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam". Winning all four at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Grand Slam". Winning the four majors and a gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics in the same calendar year has been called a "Golden Slam" since 1988. Winning all four majors plus an Olympic gold at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Golden Slam". Winning the year-end championship while also having won a Golden Slam is referred to as a "Super Slam". Winning all four majors, an Olympic gold, and the year-end championships at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Super Slam". Winning the four majors in all three disciplines a player is eligible for–singles, doubles and mixed doubles–is considered winning a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles.
Emil Ruusuvuori is a Finnish professional tennis player. He reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 37 on 3 April 2023. He is currently the No. 1 Finnish singles tennis player. He has a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 179 achieved on 2 May 2022.
The 1968 Men's National Tennis League (NTL) was the inaugural series of professional tennis tournaments founded by George McCall, among others: Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Andrés Gimeno, Pancho Gonzales and Fred Stolle.
The 1883 men's tennis season was the eighth annual tennis season, consisting of 71 tournaments. The Wimbledon Championships was won by William Renshaw for the third consecutive year, while Richard Sears continued his dominance at the U.S. National Championships also winning a third successive title. Other big winners this season were Ernest Renshaw, picking up the Irish Championships, Herbert Wilberforce winning the Northern Lawn Tennis Championships in Manchester, and Herbert Lawford collecting his second and final title at the Princes Club Championships. The title leader this season was Charles Walder Grinstead winning 5 tournaments from 6 finals.
The 1969 World Championship Tennis circuit was the second edition of the (WCT) one of the two rival professional male tennis tours of 1969 the other being the 1969 Men's National Tennis League. The tour began on 3 February in Philadelphia, United States and ended on 29 April in Midland, Texas, United States.
The 1969 Men's National Tennis League (NTL) was the final edition of the tour founded by George MacCall the league and players contracts were bought by World Championship Tennis. The tour started in Orlando, United States, 12 February and finished in Cologne, West Germany, 20 October 1969.
The 1969 Men's Tour includes International Tennis Federation tournaments that were not affiliated to either World Championship Tennis circuit or the National Tennis League. The tour began on 3 December 1968 in Madras, India and finished on 29 December in New Orleans, United States.
The 2020 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2020 tennis season. The 2020 ATP Tour calendar was composed of the Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP Finals, the ATP Tour Masters 1000, the ATP Cup, the ATP Tour 500 series, the ATP Tour 250 series, and the Davis Cup. Also included in the 2020 calendar were the tennis events at the Next Generation ATP Finals, and the Laver Cup, neither of which distributed ranking points. Several tournaments were suspended or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. On 17 June 2020, ATP issued the revised calendar for Tour resumption.
John Newcombe (7)
Dennis Ralston (10)
