1974 Grand Prix (tennis)
The 1974 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.[1] The circuit consisted of the four modern Grand Slam tournaments and open tournaments recognised by the ILTF. The season-ending Commercial Union Assurance Masters and Davis Cup Final are included in this calendar but did not count towards the Grand Prix ranking.[2]
%2C_Bestanddeelnr_929-6576.jpg) Connors playing in 1978 | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 26 December 1973 – 10 December 1974 |
| Edition | 5th |
| Tournaments | 49 |
| Categories | TC events (3) GPM events (1) AA events (12) A events (6) B events (17) C events (10) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles |   |
| Most tournament finals | |
| Prize money leader | |
| Points leader | |
← 1973 1975 → | |
Schedule
The Grand Prix circuit was scheduled from May until December so that it would not to conflict with the competing World Championship Tennis circuit which ran from January until early May.
- Key
| TC events |
| Grand Prix Masters |
| AA events |
| A events |
| B events |
| C events |
| Team events |
December 1973
| Week of | Tournament | Champion | Runner-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Dec | Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam, Group B $33,400 – Grass – 64S/35D Singles – Doubles | 7–6, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 | .svg.png){kind=small} | |  |
6–7, 6–3, 6–4 | |
May
June
July
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August
September
October
November
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December
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Dec | Commercial Union Assurance Masters Melbourne, Australia $100,000 – Grass – 8S Singles Draw | 7–6, 6–2, 3–6, 3–6, 6–4 | .svg.png){kind=small} |  |
Points system
The tournaments of the Grand Prix circuit were divided into five groups. Group TC consisted of the Triple Crown events—the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, and the US Open—while the other tournaments were divided into four other groups—AA, A, B, and C—by prize money and draw size. Group AA tournaments had a minimum prize money of $100,000 while the minimum for Group A and Group B tournaments was $75,000 and $50,000 respectively. Points were allocated based on these groups 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. Grand Prix points were also allocated to doubles results for the first time this year and are listed in brackets in the points allocation below:
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In addition a player could earn ranking points for participating in the Davis Cup team competition if the matches coincided with a Grand Prix tournament.
Standings
| Rk | Name | TC | AA | A | B | C | Played | Titles | Prize Money | Bonus Pool | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Titles | Played | Titles | Played | Titles | Played | Titles | Played | Titles | |||||||
| 1 | | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 6 | $119,844 | $100,000 | 797 |
| 2 | | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | $130,760 | $55,000 | 714 |
| 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | $86,872 | $37,500 | 622 |
| 4 |  | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | $97,616 | $27,500 | 607 |
| 5 | | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | $60,775 | $22,500 | 488 |
| 6 | | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | $73,198 | $19,750 | 482 |
| 7 |  | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 2 | $61,552 | $17,750 | 452.5 |
| 8 | | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | $58,705 | $16,000 | 429 |
| 9 | | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | $53,119 | $15,000 | 422 |
| 10 | | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | $56,700 | $14,000 | 416 |
| 11 | | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 1 | $51,077 | $13,000 | 397.5 |
| 12 | | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | $62,475 | – | 397.25 |
| 13 | | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | $50,915 | $12,000 | 370 |
| 14 |  | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | $42,539 | $11,500 | 333 |
| 15 | | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 1 | $42,316 | $11,000 | 331 |
ATP Rankings
These are the ATP Rankings of the top twenty singles players at the end of the 1973 season [3] and at the end of the 1974 season,[4] with numbers of ranking points, points averages, numbers of tournaments played, year-end rankings in 1974, highest and lowest positions during the season and number of spots gained or lost from the first rankings to the year-end rankings.
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List of tournament winners
The list of winners and number of Grand Prix singles titles won, sorted by number of titles (Grand Slam titles in bold):
The following players won their first Grand Prix title in 1974:
Notes
- South Africa won by default after the Indian Government refused to let their Davis Cup team play; this was in protest against the racial policies of the South African Government.
References
- "How it All Began". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
- John Barrett, ed. (1975). World of Tennis '75: a BP and Commercial Union yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 27–32. ISBN 9780362002171.
- "ATP Rankings (singles) as of December 14, 1973". atpworldtour.com. ATP Tour, Inc. 14 December 1973.
- "ATP Rankings (singles) as of January 17, 1975". atpworldtour.com. ATP Tour, Inc.
External links
- ATP Archive 1974: Commercial Union Grand Prix Tournaments
- ATP – History Mens Professional Tours
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.