1973 Wimbledon Championships

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1973 Wimbledon Championships
Date25 June – 8 July
Edition87th
Category Grand Slam
Draw128S / 64D / 128X
Prize money£52,400
Surface Grass
LocationChurch Road
SW19, Wimbledon,
London, United Kingdom
Venue All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Champions
Men's singles
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Jan Kodeš
Women's singles
Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King
Men's doubles
Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors / Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Ilie Năstase
Women's doubles
Flag of the United States.svg Rosie Casals / Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King
Mixed doubles
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Owen Davidson / Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King
Boys' singles
Flag of the United States.svg Billy Martin
Girls' singles
Flag of the United States.svg Ann Kiyomura
←  1972  · Wimbledon Championships ·  1974  →

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. [1] [2] The tournament was scheduled to be held from Monday 25 June until Saturday 7 July 1973 but rain on the final Friday meant that the women's singles final was postponed until Saturday and the mixed doubles final was rescheduled to Sunday 8 July. [3] It was the 87th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam tennis event of 1973. Jan Kodeš and Billie Jean King won the singles titles. King became the first player in the open era to claim the triple crown, the second time in her career she won all three titles open to women players. Her three victories necessitated playing six matches on the final weekend of the tournament: The singles final, the doubles semi-final and final and the mixed doubles quarter-final, semi-final and final, which was played on the extended Sunday schedule.

Contents

ATP boycott

In May 1973 Nikola Pilić, Yugoslavia's number one tennis player, was suspended by his national lawn tennis association, the Yugoslav Tennis Association, which claimed he had refused to play in a Davis Cup tie for his country against New Zealand earlier that month. [4] The initial suspension of nine months, supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), later was reduced by the ILTF to one month, which meant that Pilić would not be permitted to play at Wimbledon. [5] The recently formed men's players union, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), stated that none should compete if Pilić were not allowed to compete. As a result, 81 of the top players, including reigning champion Stan Smith, boycotted Wimbledon in 1973 to protest the suspension of Nikola Pilić. Twelve of the 16 men's seeds had withdrawn. [6] This resulted in a large number of qualifiers and lucky losers. [7]

Three ATP players, Ilie Năstase, Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie, defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee. Năstase unsuccessfully appealed the fine as he insisted that as a serving captain, he was under orders from the Romanian army and government to compete. Some contemporary press speculation and later biographies have suggested Năstase contrived to lose his fourth round match as he supported the ATP boycott, but to have lost any earlier to a considerably less able player would have been too obvious. [8] [9] Năstase never has commented on this speculation. Despite the boycott, the attendance of 300,172 was the second highest in the championships' history to that date. [5]

Prize money

The total prize money for 1973 championships was £52,400. The winner of the men's title earned £5,000 while the women's singles champion earned £3,000. [3] [10]

EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Round of 128
Men's singles£5,000£3,000£1,000£550£300£200£125£100
Women's singles£3,000£2,000£700£400£250£150£100£75
Men's doubles *£1,000£600£400£200£0£0£0—
Women's doubles *£600£400£200£100£0£0£0—
Mixed doubles *£500£350£175£100£0£0£0£0

* per team

Champions

Seniors

Men's singles

Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Jan Kodeš defeated Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Alex Metreveli, 6–1, 9–8(7–5), 6–3 [11]

Women's singles

Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King defeated Flag of the United States.svg Chris Evert, 6–0, 7–5 [12]

  • It was King's 10th career Grand Slam title (her 6th in the Open Era), and her 5th Wimbledon title.

Men's doubles

Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors / Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Ilie Năstase defeated Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Cooper / Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neale Fraser, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 8–9(3–7), 6–1 [13]

Women's doubles

Flag of the United States.svg Rosemary Casals / Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King defeated Flag of France.svg Françoise Dürr / Flag of the Netherlands.svg Betty Stöve, 6–1, 4–6, 7–5 [14]

Mixed doubles

Flag of Australia (converted).svg Owen Davidson / Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King defeated Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez / Flag of the United States.svg Janet Newberry, 6–3, 6–2 [15]

  • King became the only player to win the 'triple crown' (Singles, Doubles & Mixed Doubles) twice in the post-war era, repeating her success of 1967.

Juniors

Boys' singles

Flag of the United States.svg Billy Martin defeated Flag of Rhodesia (1968-1979).svg Colin Dowdeswell, 6–2, 6–4 [16]

Girls' singles

Flag of the United States.svg Ann Kiyomura defeated Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martina Navrátilová, 6–4, 7–5 [17]

Singles seeds

References

  1. ↑ Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 421, 432. ISBN   978-0942257700.
  2. ↑ Barrett, John (2001). Wimbledon : The Official History of the Championships. London: CollinsWillow. pp. 374, 375. ISBN   0007117078.
  3. 1 2 Little, Alan (2013). Wimbledon Compendium 2013 (23 ed.). London: All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. pp. 74, 129, 327–334. ISBN   978-1899039401.
  4. ↑ "Yugoslavia v New Zealand". daviscup.com. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  5. 1 2 John Barrett, ed. (1974). World of Tennis '74. London: Queen Anne. pp. 15–17, 45–47. ISBN   978-0362001686.
  6. ↑ "Wimbledon faces 2004 boycott". BBC. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "The History of the Championships". AELTC. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Evans, Richard. 'Ilie Nastase' May 1978 Aidan Ellis Publishing. ISBN   978-0856280580
  9. ↑ Robertson, Max. 'Wimbledon: Centre Court of the Game' May 1984 Parkwest Publications. ISBN   978-0881864502
  10. ↑ "About Wimbledon – Prize Money and Finance". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  11. ↑ "Gentlemen's Singles Finals 1877–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Ladies' Singles Finals 1884–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "Gentlemen's Doubles Finals 1884–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  14. ↑ "Ladies' Doubles Finals 1913–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Mixed Doubles Finals 1913–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  16. ↑ "Boys' Singles Finals 1947–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  17. ↑ "Girls' Singles Finals 1947–2017". wimbledon.com. Wimbledon Championships . Retrieved 13 August 2017.
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