1977 Grand Prix (tennis)
The 1977 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF, later the ITF) which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.[2] The circuit consisted of the four modern Grand Slam tournaments and open tournaments recognised by the ILTF. The Colgate-Palmolive Masters is included in this calendar but did not count towards the Grand Prix ranking. Colgate-Palmolive was the new tour sponsor, taking over from Commercial Union. Guillermo Vilas won the Grand Prix circuit, having accumulated the most points (2,047), and received the largest share from the bonus pool ($300,000). The top eight points ranked singles players as well as the top four doubles teams qualified for the season-ending Masters tournament [3]
Vilas playing in 1975 | |
Details | |
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Duration | 26 December 1976 – 8 January 1978 |
Edition | 8th |
Tournaments | 76 |
Achievements (singles) | |
Most tournament titles | |
Most tournament finals | |
Prize money leader | |
Points leader | |
Awards | |
Player of the year | |
Newcomer of the year | |
← 1976 1978 → |
Schedule
- Key
Grand Slam events |
Grand Prix Masters |
Six-star events |
Five-star events |
Four-star events |
Three-star events |
Two-star events |
One-star events |
Team events |
December 1976
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
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26 Dec | Marlboro New South Wales Open Sydney, Australia $75,000 – Grass – 48S/24D Two star | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 | |||
6–3, 6–4 |
January
February
March
April
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 Apr | Murcia Open Murcia, Spain $50,000 – Clay – 32S/16D One star | 6–4, 6–0, 6–3 | |||
7–5, 6–2 | |||||
18 Apr | United Bank Classic Denver, United States $100,000 – Carpet – 32S/16D Three star | 7–5, 6–2 | |||
6–2, 6–3 | |||||
25 Apr | Romika Cup Munich, West Germany Clay – 32S/16D Two star | 6–1, 6–1, 6–7, 7–5 | |||
6–3, 6–4 |
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 Dec | Marlboro South Australia Men's Classic Adelaide, Australia Grass – $100,000 – 64S/32D Three star |
3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
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3–6, 7–6, 6–4 |
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12 Dec | Marlboro New South Wales Championships Sydney, Australia Grass – $175,000 – 64S/32D Four star |
6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4 |
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7–6, 2–6, 6–3 |
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19 Dec | Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Grass – $200,000 – 64S/32D |
6–3, 7–6, 5–7, 3–6, 6–2 |
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7–6, 7–6 |
January 1978
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 Jan | Masters New York, USA Carpet – $400,000 – S8/D4 |
6–4, 1–6, 6–4 |
Round–robin | ||
7–5, 7–6, 6–3 |
Points system
The Grand Prix tournaments were divided into seven groups. Group TC consisted of the Grand Slam tournaments; the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon Championships and the US Open—while the other tournaments were given star ratings ranging from six stars to one star, based on prize money and draw size. Points were allocated based on these ratings and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. No points were awarded to first-round losers, and ties were settled by the number of tournaments played.[3] The points allocation, with doubles points listed in brackets, is as follows:
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Standings
The 1977 Grand Prix tournaments were divided in seven separate point categories, ranging from the Triple Crown tournaments (250 points for the winner) to the smallest One Star tournaments (50 points for the winner). At the end of the year the 35 top-ranked players received a bonus from the bonus pool. To qualify for a bonus a player must have played at least 15 tournaments. The top eight points ranked singles players and top four doubles teams were entitled to participate in the season-ending Masters tournament.[3]
Rk | Name | Points | Bonus |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2,047 | $300,000 | |
2 | 1,548 | $125,000 | |
3 | 1,210 | $75,000 | |
4 | 870 | $50,000 | |
5 | 777 | $45,000 | |
6 | 758 | $40,000 | |
7 | 754 | $35,000 | |
8 | 722 | – | |
9 | 670 | – | |
10 | 624 | $32,000 |
ATP rankings
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List of tournament winners
The list of winners and number of Grand Prix singles titles won, alphabetically by last number of titles:
Guillermo Vilas (16) Springfield, Buenos Aires, Virginia Beach, French Open, Kitzbühel, Washington, D.C., Louisville, South Orange, Columbus, US Open, Paris, Tehran, Bogotá, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg Björn Borg (10) Boca Raton, Memphis, Nice, Denver, Madrid, Barcelona, Wimbledon, Basel, Cologne, Wembley Vitas Gerulaitis (5) Ocean City, Rome, Brisbane, Perth, Australian Open (December) Brian Gottfried (5) Baltimore, Palm Springs, Washington Indoor, La Costa, Vienna Jeff Borowiak (3) Dayton, Gstaad, Montreal Jimmy Connors (3) Las Vegas, Maui, Sydney Indoor Tim Gullikson (3) Newport, Taiwan, Adelaide Sandy Mayer (3) Little Rock, Hampton, Stockholm Manuel Orantes (3) Indianapolis, Boston, Tokyo Outdoor Vijay Amritraj (2) Auckland, Bombay Corrado Barazzutti (2) Båstad, Paris Bercy Paolo Bertolucci (2) Hamburg, Berlin Eddie Dibbs (2) Miami, Oviedo Raúl Ramírez (2) Queen's Club, Los Angeles Harold Solomon (2) Brussels, Cincinnati Roscoe Tanner (2) Australian Open (January), Sydney Outdoor John Alexander (1) North Conway Mark Cox (1) Helsinki Victor Amaya (1) Adelaide Wojciech Fibak (1) Düsseldorf Željko Franulović (1) Munich José Higueras (1) Murcia Jiří Hřebec (1) San Jose Karl Meiler (1) Manila Ilie Năstase (1) Aix-en-Provence Andrew Pattison (1) Laguna Niguel Patrick Proisy (1) Hilversum Ken Rosewall (1) Hong Kong Stan Smith (1) Los Angeles PSW Brian Teacher (1) Jackson Butch Walts (1) San Francisco
The following players won their first title in 1977:
Victor Amaya Adelaide Tim Gullikson Newport Chris Kachel Manila Patrick Proisy Hilversum Brian Teacher Jackson
References
- "Tennis Pros Cite Borg, Gullikson". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Sep 13, 1977.
- "How it All Began". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
- John Barrett, ed. (1978). World of Tennis 1978 : a BP yearbook. London: Macdonald and Janes. ISBN 9780354090391.
External links
Further reading
- Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book (2nd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0.