- Wembley Championship
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The Wembley Championship was a tennis event held from 1934–1990 with some periods of inactivity in between and is considered as a part of the professional grand slam from 1927 - 1967 until the advent of the open era. Ken Rosewall's five singles titles is the record for this event.
It was first held in 1934 at the Empire Pool at Wembley.[1]
Prior to the open era, the Wembley Championship was the most prestigious professional tennis competition, after the United States Professional Championship and French Professional Championship. Until 1967, the Wembley Championship was considered the professional world championship. From 1970 until 1983 it was a major ranking tournament of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour as part of the Grand Prix Championship Series.
Contents
Name
The Wembley championship was officially titled the Wembley Professional Championships until 1950. The 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 Championships" beginning in 1976.
Champions
Year Champion Runner-up Score Surface Professional Era 1934 
Ellsworth Vines
Hans NüssleinRR formatr1 Indoor 1935 Ellsworth Vines Bill Tilden6-1, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3 Indoor 1936a Ellsworth Vines Hans Nüsslein6-4, 6-4, 6-2 Indoor 1937 Hans Nüsslein Bill Tilden6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 Indoor 1938a Hans Nüsslein Bill Tilden7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Indoor 1939 Don Budge Hans NüssleinRR formatr2 Indoor 1940–1948 Not Held 1949 Jack Kramer Bobby Riggs2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Indoor 1950 Pancho Gonzalez Welby Van Horn6-3, 6-3, 6-2 Indoor 1951 Pancho Gonzalez Pancho Segura6-2, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Indoor 1952 Pancho Gonzalez Jack Kramer3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 Indoor 1953 
Frank Sedgman Pancho Gonzalez6-1, 6-2, 6-2 Indoor 1954–1955 Not Held 1956 Pancho Gonzalez Frank Sedgman4-6, 11-9, 11-9, 9-7 Indoor 1957 Ken Rosewall Pancho Segura1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Indoor 1958 Frank Sedgman Tony Trabert6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Indoor 1959 Mal Anderson Pancho Segura4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 Indoor 1960 Ken Rosewall Pancho Segura5-7, 8-6, 6-1, 6-3 Indoor 1961 Ken Rosewall Lew Hoad6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Indoor 1962 Ken Rosewall Lew Hoad6-4, 5-7, 15-13, 7-5 Indoor 1963 Ken Rosewall Lew Hoad6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Indoor 1964 Rod Laver Ken Rosewall7-5, 4-6, 5-7, 8-6, 8-6 Indoor 1965 Rod Laver
Andres Gimeno6-2, 6-3, 6-4 Indoor 1966 Rod Laver Ken Rosewall6-2, 6-2, 6-3 Indoor 1967 Rod Laver Ken Rosewall2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 8-6, 6-2 Indoor Open Era 1968 Ken Rosewall John Newcombe6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 Indoor 1969 Rod Laver Tony Roche6-4, 6-1, 6-3 Indoor 1970 Rod Laver Cliff Richey6-3, 6-4, 7-5 Indoor 1971 
Ilie Năstase Rod Laver3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Indoor 1972–1975 Not Held 1976 
Jimmy Connors Roscoe Tanner3-6, 7-6, 6-4 Indoor 1977 
Björn Borg
John Lloyd6-4, 6-4, 6-3 Indoor 1978 John McEnroe Tim Gullikson6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 Indoor 1979 John McEnroe Harold Solomon6-3, 6-4, 7-5 Indoor 1980 John McEnroe Gene Mayer6-4, 6-3, 6-3 Indoor 1981 Jimmy Connors John McEnroe3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 Indoor 1982 John McEnroe Brian Gottfried6-3, 6-2, 6-4 Indoor 1983 John McEnroe Jimmy Connors7-5, 6-1, 6-4 Indoor 1984 
Ivan Lendl
Andrés Gómez7-6, 6-2, 6-1 Indoor 1985 Ivan Lendl
Boris Becker6-7, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Indoor 1986 
Yannick Noah Jonas Svensson6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5 Indoor 1987 Ivan Lendl Anders Järryd6-3, 6-2, 7-5 Indoor 1988 
Jakob Hlasek Jonas Svensson6-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, 7-5 Indoor 1989 Michael Chang Guy Forget6-2, 6-1, 6-1 Indoor 1990 Jakob Hlasek Michael Chang7-6, 6-3 Indoor Notes:
a 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 above. Ray Bowers' History of professional tennis says that neither of these tournaments ever occurred and offers substantiating evidence for his assertion. The Wembley event was usually reported in the British press but there is no mention of an event taking place in either of those two years. It may just have been a single match between Nusslein and Tilden that Joe McCauley classified as the Wembley tournament.
r1 For 1934, the tournament was played under Round Robin format with Vines 5-0 and Nüsslein 4-1 as final standings.
r1 For 1939, the tournament was played under Round Robin format with Budge 3-0 and Nüsslein, Tilden and Vines as 1-2 as final standings.
See also
- Wembley Professional Championships Draws - Professional Era (1934–1967)
References
- ^ Ray Bowers (1 March 2003). "Wembley and Paris". Forgotten Victories: The Early Pro Tennis Wars. The Tennis Server. http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_03_03_01.html. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
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