Toronto Indoor

Last updated
Toronto Indoor
Defunct tennis tournament
Event nameToronto Molson Light Challenge (1981–85)
Corel North American Indoor (1986)
SkyDome World Tennis (1990)
Tour WCT circuit (1972–77)
Grand Prix circuit (1985–86)
ATP Tour (1990)
Founded1972
Abolished1990
Editions14
Location Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1971–86/1990)
Venue Maple Leaf Gardens
Skydome (1990)
Surface Carpet (i) (1985–86/1990)

The Toronto Indoor (also known as Toronto Molson Light Challenge from 1981 to 1985, Corel North American Indoor in 1986 and Skydome World Tennis in 1990) was a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts, held at Maple Leaf Gardens. It was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit and later, for one year, the ATP Championship Series of the ATP Tour.

Contents

History

The tournament was established in 1972, becoming the second tournament held in Canada alongside the Canadian Open which alternated between Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario. The final event in 1990 was held at the Skydome.

It was held as an official tour event in consecutive years between 1972 and 1977, 1985 and 1986 [1] and then again for a final time in 1990, [2] as the first event on the newly formed ATP Tour. From 1972 to 1977, it was part of the World Championship Tennis-tour.

The first winner in 1972 was Rod Laver. During the second period, Kevin Curren won the first singles event by beating Anders Järryd, with Peter Fleming and Järryd taking the doubles title. Joakim Nyström took both titles the following year with victory against Milan Šrejber in the singles and partnering Wojciech Fibak to the doubles title. After the four-year break, Ivan Lendl took the final singles title, while Patrick Galbraith and David Macpherson won the doubles.

Molson Challenge/Molson Light Challenge

From 1981 to 1984, the tour event was replaced by an invitational competition featuring 8 players in a round-robin. It was decided to host a full tournament following the success of a standalone exhibition between Jimmy Connors and Ilie Năstase, staged the previous year at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of 12,000. [3] It was put together by Concert Productions International, a Toronto-based company that promoted another lucrative exhibition tournament, the Challenge of Champions. [4]

CPI made a substantial investment in the event's launch. The inaugural edition featured a $500,000 prize money pool, which was incorporated into its name. [3] That amount included a $25,000 bounty-style bonus for the first player who could beat world number one Björn Borg, a novelty which left the Swedish star and some of his opponents unimpressed. [5] Other expenses, including a sizeable advertising campaign, brought the budget for the five-day competition to more than $1 million. The players were contractually bound to help with promotion, and owed the promoters one newspaper, one radio and one TV appearance each. All of the Maple Leaf Gardens' 116 suites were sold, guaranteeing the event's viability. It was shown on CTV in Canada and on ESPN in the US. [3] In 1982 two separate editions were held, one at the Gardens in February, and another at the Montreal Forum in October.

Past finals

Key

WCT Circuit
Grand Prix Circuit/ATP Championship Series
Invitational Tournament

Singles

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
1972 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Laver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ken Rosewall 6–1 6–4
1973 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Laver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Roy Emerson 6–3, 6–4
1974 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Okker Flag of Romania.svg Ilie Năstase 6–3, 6–4
1975 Flag of the United States.svg Harold Solomon Flag of the United States.svg Stan Smith 6–4, 6–1
1976 Flag of Sweden.svg Björn Borg Flag of the United States.svg Vitas Gerulaitis 2–6, 6–3, 6–1
1977 Flag of the United States.svg Dick Stockton Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors 5–6 Connors ret.
1981 Flag of the United States.svg Vitas Gerulaitis Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
1982 [lower-alpha 1] Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors Flag of Sweden.svg Björn Borg 6–4, 6–3
1982 [lower-alpha 2] Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Ivan Lendl Flag of the United States.svg John McEnroe 7–5, 3–6, 7–6, 7–5
1983 Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Connors Flag of Spain.svg José Higueras 6–2, 6–0, 5–7, 6–0
1984 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Ivan Lendl Flag of France.svg Yannick Noah 6–0, 6–2, 6–4
1985 Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Kevin Curren Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Järryd 7–6, 6–3
1986 Flag of Sweden.svg Joakim Nyström Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Milan Šrejber 6–1, 6–4
1990 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Ivan Lendl Flag of the United States.svg Tim Mayotte 6–3, 6–0

Doubles

YearChampionsRunners-upScore
1972 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Carmichael
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ray Ruffels
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Roy Emerson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Laver
6–4, 4–6, 6–4
1973 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Alexander
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Dent
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Roy Emerson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Laver
3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–2
1974 Flag of Mexico.svg Raúl Ramírez
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Roche
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Okker
Flag of the United States.svg Marty Riessen
6–3, 2–6, 6–4
1975 Flag of the United States.svg Dick Stockton
Flag of the United States.svg Erik van Dillen
Flag of India.svg Anand Amritraj
Flag of India.svg Vijay Amritraj
6–4, 7–5, 6–1
1976 Flag of Chile.svg Jaime Fillol
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Frew McMillan
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Alexander Metreveli
Flag of Romania.svg Ilie Năstase
6–7(3–7), 6–2, 6–3
1977 Flag of Poland.svg Wojciech Fibak
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Okker
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ross Case
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Roche
6–4, 6–1
1985 Flag of the United States.svg Peter Fleming
Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Järryd
Flag of the United States.svg Glenn Layendecker
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Glenn Michibata
7–6, 6–2
1986 Flag of Poland.svg Wojciech Fibak
Flag of Sweden.svg Joakim Nyström
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Christo Steyn
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Danie Visser
6–3, 7–6
1990 Flag of the United States.svg Patrick Galbraith
Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Macpherson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Neil Broad
Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Curren
2–6, 6–4, 6–3

Notes

  1. Played in Montreal.
  2. Played in Toronto.

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