1981 World Championship Tennis Finals

Last updated
1981 World Championship Tennis Finals
DateApril 27 – May 3
Edition11th
Category Grand Prix
Draw8S
Prize money$250,000
Surface Carpet / indoor
Location Dallas, Texas, US
Venue Reunion Arena
Champions
Singles
Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe [1]
  1980  · WCT Finals ·  1982  

The 1981 World Championship Tennis Finals was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 11th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix. The tournament was played at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas in the United States and was held from April 27 through May 3, 1981. [2] The winners of the eight WCT tournaments that were part of the 1981 Grand Prix circuit qualified for the tournament augmented by the next best performers in the WCT points standings. Guillermo Vilas qualified by winning the last tournament held just before the WCT Finals, the River Oaks Tournament in Houston, but was unavailable to play. Jimmy Connors withdrew before the tournament due to gastroenteritis and Yannick Noah could not participate due to a shoulder injury. They were replaced by Sandy Mayer and Sam Giammalva respectively. [3] First-seeded John McEnroe won the title and $100,000 prize money. [4]

Contents

Finals

Singles

Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe defeated Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg Johan Kriek 6–1, 6–2, 6–4

Hall of Fame Classic

During the tournament a Hall of Fame Classic event was organized featuring four former Grand Slam tournament winners Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe. Rosewall won the event, defeating Newcombe in the final 4–6, 7–6, 6–4.

Related Research Articles

Björn Borg Swedish tennis player

Björn Rune Borg is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles, but he never won the US Open despite four finals appearances. He is the first male player to win five Wimbledon titles in the Open Era, as well as the only Swedish tennis player, male or female, to win more than 10 Grand Slams.

Jimmy Connors American tennis player

James Scott Connors is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 weeks. By virtue of his long and prolific career, Connors still holds three prominent Open Era men's singles records: 109 titles, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. His titles include eight major singles titles, three year-end championships, and 17 Grand Prix Super Series titles. In 1974, he became the second man in the Open Era to win three major titles in a calendar year, and was not permitted to participate in the fourth, the French Open. Connors finished year end number one in the ATP rankings from 1974 to 1978. In 1982, he won both Wimbledon and the US Open and was ATP Player of the Year and ITF World Champion. He retired in 1996 at the age of 43.

John McEnroe American tennis player

John Patrick McEnroe Jr. is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, in addition to confrontational on-court behavior that frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities.

Ken Rosewall Australian tennis player

Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player. He won a record 23 tennis Majors in singles, including 8 Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a record 15 Pro Slam titles; overall, he reached a record 35 Major finals. He won the Pro Grand Slam in 1963. Rosewall won a record 24 major men's doubles titles. He won 9 grand slam titles in men's doubles with a career men's doubles grand slam and also won 15 Pro Slam men's doubles titles.

Tony Roche Australian tennis player

Anthony Dalton Roche AO MBE is an Australian former professional tennis player.

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 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 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. The 1974 edition was the first tennis tournament to experiment with electronic line calling. The first edition of the WCT Finals was in November 1971, just a few days before the equivalent event of the rival Grand Prix circuit. But the second edition occurred just six months later to accommodate NBC's new tennis coverage; the tournament final between Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver is credited as "the match that made tennis in the United States" because its unprecedented domestic television audience of 23 million fueled a massive increase in the sport's popularity. The ensuing editions were also held in the spring. John McEnroe had the most overall success, winning a record five titles. Because of the popularity of the 1972 final, 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 Detroit. The tournament was sponsored by Buick between 1985 and 1986, a brand of General Motors, and was called the "Buick WCT Finals".

The 1980 U.S. Pro Indoor was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts that was part of World Championship Tennis (WCT) category of tournaments of the 1980 Volvo Grand Prix circuit. It was played at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States and was held from January 21 through January 27, 1980. First-seeded Jimmy Connors won the singles title after a final that lasted three hours and 30 minutes and earned $40,000 first-prize money. It was his fourth singles title at the tournament which equalled the record held by Rod Laver.

The 1982 World Championship Tennis Spring Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 12th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1982 World Championship Tennis circuit since World Championship Tennis had split from the Grand Prix tennis circuit. It was played at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas in the United States and was held from April 20 through April 26, 1982. Second-seeded Ivan Lendl won the title.

The 1980 Custom Credit Australian Indoor Championships was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia and was part of the 1980 Volvo Grand Prix. It was the 8th edition of the tournament and was held from 13 October through 19 October 1980. First-seeded John McEnroe won the singles title and earned $46,250 first-prize money.

The 1982 Masters was a men's tennis tournament held in Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States between 18–23 January 1983. It was the year-end championship of the 1982 Volvo Grand Prix tour and was played on indoor carpet courts. The round-robin format of previous editions was replaced by a knock-out tournament featuring the 12 highest ranking singles players as well as the six best doubles teams of the Grand Prix circuit. The top four seeds in the singles event received a bye in the first round and all singles matches were played as best-of-three sets, except the final which was a best-of-five set match.

1982 Grand Prix (tennis) Tennis circuit

The 1982 Volvo Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year. It incorporated the four grand slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tournaments. The circuit was administered by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC). On 30 April 1981 World Championship Tennis (WCT) announced its withdrawal from the Grand Prix circuit, which it had been incorporated into since 1978, and the re-establishment of its own tour calendar for the 1982 season. To counter the threat of player leaving the Grand Prix tour for the WCT the MIPTC introduced a mandatory commitment to play at least 10 Grand Prix Super Series tournaments.

1981 Grand Prix (tennis)

The 1981 Volvo Grand Prix was the only men's professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Grand Prix tournaments. The World Championship Tennis (WCT) Tour was incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit. The WCT tour consisted of eight regular tournaments, a season's final, three tournaments categorized as special events and a doubles championship. In total 89 tournaments were held divided over 29 countries. The circuit was administered by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC).

The 1983 WCT Tournament of Champions, also known by its sponsored name Mercedes Tournament of Champions, was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City in the United States that was part of the World Championship Tennis circuit. It was the seventh edition of the tournament and was held from May 1 through May 8, 1983. Second-seeded John McEnroe won the singles title.

1974 World Championship Tennis circuit

The 1974 World Championship Tennis (WCT) circuit was one of the two rival professional male tennis circuits of 1974, the other being the Grand Prix circuit. It was organized by World Championship Tennis (WCT). It was the fourth edition of the WCT circuit and a total of 84 players participated. All players took part in the opening U.S. Pro Indoor tournament in Philadelphia and afterwards were divided into three groups of 28 players, with each group playing eight further tournaments. The season final was played in Dallas by the eight best performers, the top two of each group plus the next two highest point winners, and was won by Australian John Newcombe who defeated Björn Borg from Sweden in four sets.

The 1981 Cuore Cup was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at the Palazzo dello Sport in Milan, Italy. The event was part WCT Tour which was incorporated into the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix circuit. It was the fourth edition of the tournament and was held from 23 March through 29 March 1981. Second-seeded John McEnroe won his third consecutive singles title at the event and earned $35,000 first-prize money.

The 1981 Monterrey WCT was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts in Monterrey, Mexico. The event was part of the WCT Tour which was incorporated into the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix circuit. It was the third edition of the tournament and was held from January 19 through January 25, 1981. Fourth-seeded Johan Kriek won the singles title.

The 1981 WCT Tournament of Champions was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City in the United States and part of the 1981 Grand Prix circuit. It was the fifth edition of the tournament and was held from May 4 through May 10, 1981. The event was open to players who had won a tournament worth at least $25,000 during the previous 12 months. Tenth-seeded Eddie Dibbs won the singles title and the accompanying first prize of $100,000 plus $3,050 in bonus money.

The 1980 Milan Indoor, also known by its sponsored name Ramazzotti Cup, was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at the Palazzo dello Sport in Milan, Italy. The event was part WCT Tour which was incorporated into the 1980 Volvo Grand Prix circuit. It was the third edition of the tournament and was held from 24 March through 30 March 1980. First-seeded John McEnroe won the singles title.

The 1980 United Virginia Bank Classic, also known as the Richmond WCT, was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, United States. The event was part of World Championship Tennis category of the 1980 Volvo Grand Prix circuit. It was the 15th edition of the tournament and was held from January 28 through February 3, 1980. First-seeded John McEnroe won the singles title and the $30,200 first-prize money.

References

  1. "1981 Dallas – Singles draw". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
  2. "ITF tournament edition details". International Tennis Federation (ITF).
  3. John Barrett, ed. (1982). World of Tennis 1982 . London: Queen Anne Press. pp.  175–177. ISBN   9780356085968.
  4. "McEnroe Beats Kriek, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, for his Second W.C.T. Crown". The New York Times. May 4, 1981.