- Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era
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Before the beginning of the Open era in 1968 only amateurs were allowed to compete in mainstream tennis tournaments, including the four Grand Slams there was no prize money and players were compensated for travel expenses only. This changed with the advent of the Open era. However many top tennis players turned professional to play legally for prize money. They played in separate professional events, mostly on tours involving head-to-head competition with the three Professional Slams as the biggest events on the pro tour. Ken Rosewall holds the record for most wins overall at 15.
Contents
Professional Grand slams
In addition to head-to-head tours, there were annual professional tournaments called Championship tournaments where the world's top professional players played and these tournaments held with a certain tradition.
The oldest of the three was the United States Professional Championship, played between 1927 and 1999. Between 1954 and 1962 it was played indoors in Cleveland and was called the World Professional Championships. The most prestigious of the three was generally the London Indoor Professional Championship. Played between 1934 and 1990, at Wembley in England, it was unofficially usually considered the world's championship until 1967. The third major tournament was the French Professional Championship, played between 1934 (and perhaps before but the data are unclear) and 1968, generally at Roland Garros.
These three tournaments until 1967 are referred as the professional Grand Slam tournaments by prominent tennis historians such as Robert Geist[1] and Raymond Lee.[2]
United States Pro Championship
Main article: United States Pro ChampionshipThe U.S. Pro Championship, also U.S. Pro, was an annual tournament, also known as MFS Pro Championships.
It was first organized by player Vinny Richards when promoter C. C. Pyle withdrew interest in the project. It was played on the Notlek courts located at 119th Street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan. The following four editions were played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens. The next five were played at various clubs in Chicago and New York.
From 1937 to 1941 a tournament was held at the Greenbrier Golf and Tennis Club, White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia and called the U.S. Open, as it was open to both pros and amateurs. Because of their participation the latter were later officially barred from future U.S.L.T.A. amateur competition. The 1937 edition of the U.S. Open is also viewed as the U.S. Pro. The U.S. Pro was then played in Chicago or Los Angeles until the 1940s, the 1946 through '49 events played at the West Side in Forest Hills.
From 1950 to 1964 promoter Jack March organized an annual tournament called the World Pro Championship that was held at different sites in Cleveland: in 1950 and from 1952 to 1962 the tournament served as the U.S. Pro. Between 1954 and 1962 it was played indoors at the Cleveland Arena. After playing the 1963 edition at the West Side the tournament had a permanent home at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where it was played from 1964 through 1995 and from 1997 to 1999.
Wembley Championship
Main article: Wembley ChampionshipThis tournament was called the "London Indoor Professional Championships" from 1951 through 1967. In 1968, it was called the "Kramer Tournament of Champions." From 1969 through 1971, the tournament merged with and was called the "British Covered Court Championships." Finally, it was called the "Benson & Hedges Tournament" beginning in 1976.
French Pro Championship
Main article: French Pro ChampionshipIn 1930 the "Association Française des Professeurs de Tennis (AFPT)" held its first pro tournament, entitled "Championnat International de France Professionnel" (French Pro Championships) in June, 18-22, 1930.[3]
From 1930 the French Pro Championship were always played at Paris, on outdoor clay at Roland Garros except from 1963 to 1967 where it was held at Stade Pierre de Coubertin on indoor wood.
Professional Grand Slam Champions
Year 
US Pro
Wembley
French Pro1927 
Vinny Richards1928 Vinny Richards1929 
Karel Kozeluh1930 Vinny Richards Karel Koželuh1931 Bill Tilden Martin Plaa1932 Karel Kozeluh Robert Ramillon1933a Vinny Richards Bill Tilden1934 
Hans Nusslein Ellsworth Vines Bill Tilden1935 Bill Tilden Ellsworth Vines Ellsworth Vines1936b Joe Whalen Ellsworth Vines Henri Cochet1937c Karel Kozeluh Hans Nüsslein Hans Nüsslein1938b Fred Perry Hans Nüsslein Hans Nüsslein1939 Ellsworth Vines Don Budge Don Budge1940 Don Budgeno competition no competition 1941 Fred Perryno competition held under German occupation 1942 Don Budgeno competition held under German occupation 1943 Bruce Barnesno competition held under German occupation 1944 no competition no competition held under German occupation 1945 Welby Van Hornno competition no competition 1946 Bobby Riggsno competition no competition 1947 Bobby Riggsno competition no competition 1948 Jack Kramerno competition no competition 1949 Bobby Riggs Jack Kramerno competition 1950d Pancho Segura Pancho Gonzalezno competition 1951 Pancho Segura Pancho Gonzalezno competition 1952 Pancho Segura Pancho Gonzalezno competition 1953e Pancho Gonzalez
Frank Sedgman Frank Sedgman1954 Pancho Gonzalezno competition no competition 1955 Pancho Gonzalezno competition no competition 1956 Pancho Gonzalez Pancho Gonzalez Tony Trabert1957 Pancho Gonzalez Ken Rosewallno competition 1958 Pancho Gonzalez Frank Sedgman Ken Rosewall1959 Pancho Gonzalez Mal Anderson Tony Trabert1960 
Alex Olmedo Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall1961 Pancho Gonzalez Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall1962 Butch Buchholz Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall1963 Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall1964 Rod Laver Rod Laver Ken Rosewall1965 Ken Rosewall Rod Laver Ken Rosewall1966 Rod Laver Rod Laver Ken Rosewall1967 Rod Laver Rod Laver Rod LaverNotes:
a The status of the 1933 French Pro is unclear. In History of the Pro Tennis Wars, by Ray Bowers, there is no mention of a French Pro tournament in 1933. The only professional competition played that year at Roland Garros was a USA-France meeting, September 22–24, in the Davis Cup format. Many sources probably wrongly considered the Tilden-Cochet match as a final of a supposed French Pro.
b The status of the Wembley Championships of 1936 and 1938 is unclear. Two of the three major sources for the professional championships list the results as shown. Ray Bowers' History of professional tennis says that neither of these tournaments ever occurred and offers substantiating evidence for his assertion.
c The 1937 US Pro was the first pro event open to amateur players and is considered as both the U.S. Pro Tennis Championship and first "true" U.S. Open event.
d The US Pro events from 1950–1962, were billed the World Pro Championship with the exception of 1951, where a separate U.S. Pro and World Pro in Cleveland were held.
e The status of 1953 French Pro is unclear. Joe McCauley included this tournament in his list of French Pro tournaments but he precised in his book "History of Professional Tennis" that it may not have been considered at the time as an official French Pro.
Other professional tournaments before 1968
The Championships at Wimbledon, the US Championships, the French Championships, and the Australian Championships were typically the top events, where amateur players could compete for the title, albeit without prize money. Since the professional circuit was less organized and somewhat less popular than the amateur circuit, the professional events hierarchy changed each year. In 1934 the US Pro was a high-class tournament with all top ranked pro players whereas in 1936 it was a meeting between pro teachers without any leading pro players. A tournament could even be canceled at any time due to poor attendance.
Consequently for a given year a pro tournament was a major one when it attracted the best pro players and then another year this same tournament could be a second-rank tournament because few or no leading players came. Before the open era in addition to numerous small tournaments and head-to-head tours between the leading professionals, there were some major tournaments which stood out at different periods. Some survived sporadically because of financial collapses and other temporarily stood out when other great tournaments weren't held. These include:
- 1920–32 – the Bristol Cup; held on the French Riviera at Menton, at Cannes or at Beaulieu.
- 1928 – the Professional Championship of the World at Queen's Club
- 1935–37 – the Bonnardel Cup in team format
- 1935–39 – the International Pro Championship of Britain at Southport
- 1932–33 – the World Pro Championships in Berlin
- 1945–46 – the U.S Pro Hard courts in LA; the only significant pro tournament of the last year of World War II.
- 1950–52 – Philadelphia Indoor Pro
- 1956–59 – the Tournament of Champions held in Los Angeles in 1956 and then at Forest Hills.
- 1957–58 – Masters Pro Round Robin in Los Angeles
- 1954, 57, 58 – the Australian Pro
- 1961–63 – the Kramer Cup in team format
- 1966-67 – Madison Square Garden Pro
- 1967 – Wimbledon Pro
References
- ^ "DER GRÖSSTE MEISTER Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall"
- ^ "Greatest Player of All time: A Statistical Analysis" article ( http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=503656 )
- ^ Le Tennis en France 1875-1955
External links
- History of the Pro Tennis Wars
- Chapter I: Suzanne Lenglen and the First Pro Tour
- Chapter II, Part 1: The eminence of Karel Kozeluh and Vincent Richards 1927–1928
- Chapter II, Part 2: Deja vu 1929–1930
- Chapter III: Tilden's Year of Triumph in 1931
- Chapter IV: Tilden and Nusslein, 1932–1933
- Chapter V: The Early Ascendancy of Vines, 1934
- Chapter VI: Vines's Second Year: 1935
- Chapter VII: Awaiting Perry, 1936
- Chapter VIII: Perry and Vines, 1937
- Chapter IX: Readying for Budge, 1938
- Chapter X: Budge's Great Pro Year, 1939
- Chapter XI: America, 1940–1941
- Chapter XI: America, 1942
- Chapter XII: The High War Years, 1943–1945
Tennis Grand Slam tournaments Professional (1927–67): U.S. Pro · Wembley · French Pro Categories:- Tennis tournaments
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