1970 Grand Prix (tennis)

1970 Grand Prix circuit
	Rod Laver in 1970
Details
Duration	27 April 1970 – 9 December 1970
Edition	1st
Tournaments	20
Categories	Group A (3) ; Masters ; Group 1 (6) ; Group 2 (11)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Rod Laver (4)
Most tournament finals	Rod Laver (7)
Prize money leader	Cliff Richey ($25,000)
Points leader	Cliff Richey (60)
	1971 →

The 1970 Pepsi-Cola ILTF Grand Prix was a 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] It was the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix circuit and consisted of men's tournaments recognised by the ILTF.[lower-alpha 1] The creation of the Grand Prix circuit, on an experimental basis during its first year, was announced in April 1970 by the president of the ILTF, Ben Barnett.[2] It was the brainchild of Jack Kramer, former tennis promoter and winner of the Wimbledon and US championships, and was aimed at countering the influence of commercial promoters, particularly Lamar Hunt and his World Championship Tennis circuit and George MacCall's National Tennis League.[3][4]

The tournaments were graded in one of three categories which determined the number of ranking points available: Class A, comprising the three Grand Slam tournaments, Class 1 and Class 2. The Pepsi-Cola Masters and Davis Cup Final are included in this calendar but did not count towards the Grand Prix. In addition to the tournament prize money a bonus pool of $150,000 was available for the top 20 ranked players. The bonus pool was jointly funded by Pepsi-Cola as title sponsor and the participating tournaments which reserved 10% of their prize money.[5][6] Cliff Richey earned $25,000 bonus as the winner of the first Grand Prix circuit.[7] At the end of the season the top six ranked players qualified for a Masters round-robin tournament held in Tokyo which was won by Stan Smith.

All open tennis tournaments were eligible to be included in the Grand Prix circuit provided they committed to not paying any management fees to commercial organizations with players under contract. Originally the Italian Championships, played in April in Rome, was part of the Grand Prix calendar but it was withdrawn during the tournament when it became known that they had paid management fees to the competing World Championship Tennis organization.[8]

Schedule

Key

Class A tournaments
Grand Prix Masters
Group 1 tournaments
Group 2 tournaments
Team events

April

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
27 Apr	Rothmans British Hard Court Championships Bournemouth, Great Britain Clay – $25,000 – 32S/16D/16XD Group 2	Mark Cox 6–1, 6–2, 6–3	Bob Hewitt	Gerald Battrick Nikola Pilić	Georges Goven Ismail El Shafei François Jauffret Tom Okker
		Tom Okker Tony Roche 2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4	William Bowrey Owen Davidson
		Billie Jean King Bob Hewitt 6–2, 3–6, 6–1	Virginia Wade Bob Maud

May

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
25 May	French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Group A Clay – 128S/101Q/72D/53XD Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	Jan Kodeš 6–2, 6–4, 6–0	Željko Franulović	Cliff Richey Georges Goven	Ilie Năstase Arthur Ashe François Jauffret Martin Mulligan
		Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac 6–2, 6–4, 6–3	Arthur Ashe Charlie Pasarell
		Billie Jean King Bob Hewitt 3–6, 6–4, 6–2	Françoise Dürr Jean-Claude Barclay

June

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
22 Jun	Wimbledon Championships London, Great Britain Grand Slam Group A Grass – 128S/80Q/64D/32Q/56XD/12Q Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	John Newcombe 5–7, 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 6–1	Ken Rosewall	Roger Taylor Andrés Gimeno	Clark Graebner Tony Roche Bob Carmichael Roy Emerson
		John Newcombe Tony Roche 10–8, 6–3, 6–1	Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle
		Rosemary Casals Ilie Năstase 6–3, 4–6, 9–7	Olga Morozova Alex Metreveli

July

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
6 Jul	Swedish Championships Båstad, Sweden Clay – 32S/21D Group 1	Dick Crealy 6–3, 6–1, 6–1	Georges Goven	Željko Franulović Bob Carmichael	Per Jemsby Clark Graebner John Alexander Patricio Rodríguez
6 Jul	Swedish Championships Båstad, Sweden Clay – 32S/21D Group 1	Dick Crealy Allan Stone 6–2, 2–6, 12–12 RET.	Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš	Željko Franulović Bob Carmichael	Per Jemsby Clark Graebner John Alexander Patricio Rodríguez
13 Jul	Washington Star International Washington, United States Clay – $35,000 – 64S/32D Group 2	Cliff Richey 7–5, 6–2, 6–1	Arthur Ashe	Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac	Bob Hewitt Georges Goven Dick Crealy Stan Smith
13 Jul		Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 7–5, 6–0	Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac	Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac	Bob Hewitt Georges Goven Dick Crealy Stan Smith
20 Jul	Western Championships Cincinnati, United States Clay – $25,000 – 64S/32D Group 2	Ken Rosewall 7–9, 9–7, 8–6	Cliff Richey	Ilie Năstase Jan Kodeš	Clark Graebner Ion Țiriac Stan Smith Bob Hewitt
20 Jul		Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac 6–3, 6–4	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	Ilie Năstase Jan Kodeš	Clark Graebner Ion Țiriac Stan Smith Bob Hewitt
27 Jul	U.S. Clay Court Championships Indianapolis, United States Clay – $50,000 – 64S/32D Group 1	Cliff Richey 6–2, 10–8, 3–6, 6–1	Stan Smith	Željko Franulović Arthur Ashe	Frew McMillan Clark Graebner Allan Stone Jaime Fillol
27 Jul		Arthur Ashe Clark Graebner 2–6, 6–4, 6–4	Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac	Željko Franulović Arthur Ashe	Frew McMillan Clark Graebner Allan Stone Jaime Fillol

August

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
3 Aug	First National Bank Classic Louisville, United States Group 2 Clay – $25,000 – 16S/8D Singles – Doubles	Rod Laver 6–3, 6–3	John Newcombe	Tony Roche Ken Rosewall	Cliff Drysdale Andrés Gimeno Roy Emerson Dennis Ralston
3 Aug		John Newcombe Tony Roche 8–6, 5–7, 6–4	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	Tony Roche Ken Rosewall	Cliff Drysdale Andrés Gimeno Roy Emerson Dennis Ralston
3 Aug	Bavarian Open Championships Munich, West Germany Group 2 24S/8D	Ion Țiriac 2–6, 9–7, 6–3, 6–4	Niki Pilić	Christian Kunke Ilie Năstase	Bob Hewitt Harald Elschenbroich John Alexander Barry Phillips-Moore
3 Aug		Owen Davidson Niki Pilić 6–4, 7–5, 6–4	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	Christian Kunke Ilie Năstase
10 Aug	U.S. Professional Tennis Championships Boston, United States Group 1 Hard – $50,000 – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Tony Roche 3–6, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2, 6–2	Rod Laver	Roy Emerson Cliff Drysdale	Jaime Fillol Arthur Ashe Jan Kodeš Ray Ruffels
10 Aug		Roy Emerson Rod Laver 6–1, 7–6	Ismail El Shafei Torben Ulrich	Roy Emerson Cliff Drysdale	Jaime Fillol Arthur Ashe Jan Kodeš Ray Ruffels
24 Aug	Pennsylvania Championships Merion, United States Group 2 Grass – 64S/32D	Ray Ruffels 6–3, 7–6, 6–3	Jaime Fillol	Dick Crealy Brian Fairlie	Bob Carmichael Haroon Rahim William Bowrey Cliff Drysdale
		William Bowrey Ray Ruffels 3–6, 6–2, 7–5	Jim McManus Jim Osborne	Dick Crealy Brian Fairlie	Bob Carmichael Haroon Rahim William Bowrey Cliff Drysdale
	Davis Cup Final Cleveland, United States – hard (i)	United States 5–0	West Germany
31 Aug	Marlboro Open South Orange, United States Group 2 Grass – $25,000 – 42S/19D	Rod Laver 6–4, 6–2, 6–2	Bob Carmichael	Ken Rosewall Alex Metreveli	Andrés Gimeno Brian Fairlie Dick Stockton Onny Parun
31 Aug		Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol 3–6, 7–6, 7–6	Andrés Gimeno Rod Laver	Ken Rosewall Alex Metreveli	Andrés Gimeno Brian Fairlie Dick Stockton Onny Parun

September

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 Sep	US Open New York, United States Grand Slam Class A Grass – $176,000 – 108S/63D/34XD Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	Ken Rosewall 2–6, 6–4, 7–6^(5–2), 6–3	Tony Roche	Cliff Richey John Newcombe	Dennis Ralston Brian Fairlie Stan Smith Arthur Ashe
		Pierre Barthès Nikola Pilić 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6	Roy Emerson Rod Laver
		Margaret Court Marty Riessen 6–4, 6–4	Judy Tegart Frew McMillan
21 Sep	Pepsi Pacific Southwest Open Los Angeles, United States Group 1 Hard – $65,000 – 64S/32D Singles – Doubles	Rod Laver 4–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–5)	John Newcombe	Arthur Ashe Tom Gorman	Stan Smith Clark Graebner Marty Riessen Pancho Gonzales
21 Sep		Tom Okker Marty Riessen 7–6, 6–2	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	Arthur Ashe Tom Gorman	Stan Smith Clark Graebner Marty Riessen Pancho Gonzales
28 Sep	Pacific Coast Championships Berkeley, United States Group 2 Hard – 64S/32D	Arthur Ashe 6–4, 6–2, 6–4	Cliff Richey	Stan Smith Dennis Ralston	Bob Carmichael Jan Kodeš Jaime Fillol Thomaz Koch
28 Sep		Bob Lutz Stan Smith 6–2, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2	Roy Barth Tom Gorman	Stan Smith Dennis Ralston	Bob Carmichael Jan Kodeš Jaime Fillol Thomaz Koch

October

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
18 Oct	Phoenix Thunderbird Open Phoenix, United States Hard – 31S/16D Group 2	Stan Smith 6–3, 6–7, 6–1	Jim Osborne	Barry MacKay Bob Carmichael	Charlie Pasarell Jan Kodeš Frank Froehling Tom Edlefsen
18 Oct		Dick Crealy Ray Ruffels 7–6, 6–3	Jan Kodeš Charlie Pasarell	Barry MacKay Bob Carmichael	Charlie Pasarell Jan Kodeš Frank Froehling Tom Edlefsen

November

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
1 Nov	Stockholm Open Stockholm, Sweden Group 2 Hard (i) – $35,000 – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Stan Smith 5–7, 6–4, 6–4	Arthur Ashe	Ken Rosewall Cliff Richey	Mark Cox Georges Goven Dennis Ralston Roy Emerson
1 Nov		Arthur Ashe Stan Smith 6–0, 5–7, 7–5	Bob Carmichael Owen Davidson	Ken Rosewall Cliff Richey	Mark Cox Georges Goven Dennis Ralston Roy Emerson
8 Nov	South American Championships Buenos Aires, Argentina Group 1 Clay – 32S/8D	Željko Franulović 6–4, 6–2, 6–0	Manuel Orantes	Jan Kodeš Bob Carmichael	Ray Ruffels Jan Kukal Dick Crealy Cliff Richey
		Bob Carmichael Ray Ruffels 7–5, 6–2, 5–7, 6–7, 6–3	Željko Franulović Jan Kodeš	Jan Kodeš Bob Carmichael	Ray Ruffels Jan Kukal Dick Crealy Cliff Richey
	Paris Open Paris, France Group 2 Carpet – $31,000 – 32S/8D Singles	Arthur Ashe 7–6, 6–4, 6–3	Marty Riessen	Stan Smith Georges Goven	Pancho Gonzales Dennis Ralston Roger Taylor Ken Rosewall
		Pancho Gonzales Ken Rosewall 6–4, 7–6, 7–6	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	Stan Smith Georges Goven	Pancho Gonzales Dennis Ralston Roger Taylor Ken Rosewall
16 Nov	Embassy British Indoor Championships London, England Group 1 Carpet – 32S/16D Singles	Rod Laver 6–3, 6–4, 6–4	Cliff Richey	Cliff Drysdale Ken Rosewall	Ilie Năstase Dennis Ralston Roger Taylor Pancho Gonzales
16 Nov		Ken Rosewall Stan Smith 6–4, 6–3, 6–2	Ilie Năstase Ion Țiriac	Cliff Drysdale Ken Rosewall	Ilie Năstase Dennis Ralston Roger Taylor Pancho Gonzales

December

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
9 Dec	Pepsi-Cola Masters Tokyo, Japan Hard (i) – $50,000 – 6S/3D (round robin) Singles – Doubles	Stan Smith	Rod Laver	NA	NA
9 Dec		Arthur Ashe Stan Smith	Jan Kodeš Rod Laver	NA	NA

Grand Prix point system

The tournaments listed above were divided into three categories. Class A consisted of the Grand Slams while the other tournaments were divided into Class 1 and Class 2. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. Ties were settled by the number of tournaments played. The points allocation is listed below:

**Class A**
Champion: 15 Runner-up: 10 Semifinalist: 7 Quarterfinalist: 5 9th – 16th: 3 17th – 32nd: 2

**Class 1**
Champion: 11 Runner-up: 7 Semifinalist: 5 5th – 8th: 3 9th – 16th: 1

**Class 2**
Champion: 8 Runner-up: 6 Semifinalist: 4 5th – 8th: 2 9th – 16th: 1

Grand Prix rankings

Position	Name	Nation	Points	Prize Money (US$)
1	Cliff Richey	USA	60	25,000
2	Arthur Ashe	USA	55	17,000
3	Ken Rosewall	AUS	53	15,000
4	Rod Laver	AUS	51	12,000
5	Stan Smith	USA	47	10,500
6	Željko Franulović	YUG	35	9,500
7	John Newcombe	AUS	35	8,500
8	Jan Kodeš	CSK	33	7,500
9	Tony Roche	AUS	32	6,500
10	Bob Carmichael	AUS	31	6,000
11	Georges Goven	FRA	25	5,500
12	Ilie Năstase	ROM	25	5,000
13	Dick Crealy	AUS	24	4,500
14	Ray Ruffels	AUS	22	4,000
15	Clark Graebner	USA	22	3,500
16	Dennis Ralston	USA	22	3,000
17	Jaime Fillol	CHI	20	2,500
18	Ion Țiriac	ROM	19	2,000
19	Cliff Drysdale	RSA	19	1,500
20	Roy Emerson	AUS	19	1,000

List of tournament winners

The list of winners and number of singles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), alphabetically by last name:

Arthur Ashe (3) Australian Open, Berkeley, Paris Indoor
Mark Cox (1) Bournemouth
Dick Crealy (1) Båstad
Željko Franulović (1) Buenos Aires
Jan Kodeš (1) French Open
Rod Laver (4) Louisville, South Orange, Los Angeles, Wembley
John Newcombe (1) Wimbledon
Cliff Richey (2) Washington, Indianapolis
Tony Roche (2) Gstaad, Boston
Ray Ruffels (1) Merion
Ken Rosewall (2) Cincinnati, US Open
Manuel Santana (1) Barcelona
Stan Smith (3) Phoenix, Stockholm, Pepsi-Cola Masters

The list of winners and number of doubles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), last name alphabetically:

Arthur Ashe (3) Indianapolis, Stockholm, Pepsi-Cola Masters
Pierre Barthès (2) Munich, US Open
William Bowrey (1) Merion
Bob Carmichael (1) Buenos Aires
Patricio Cornejo (1) South Orange
Dick Crealy (2) Båstad, Phoenix
Owen Davidson (1) Munich
Roy Emerson (1) Boston
Jaime Fillol (1) South Orange
Clark Graebner (1) Indianapolis
Bob Hewitt (1) Washington
Rod Laver (1) Boston
Bob Lutz (2) Australian Open, Berkeley
Frew McMillan (1) Washington
Ilie Năstase (2) French Open, Cincinnati
John Newcombe (2) Wimbledon, Louisville
Tom Okker (2) Bournemouth, Los Angeles
Nikola Pilić (1) US Open
Marty Riessen (1) Los Angeles
Tony Roche (3) Bournemouth, Wimbledon, Louisville
Ken Rosewall (1) London
Ray Ruffels (3) Merion, Phoenix, Buenos Aires
Stan Smith (5) Australian Open, Berkeley, London, Stockholm, Pepsi-Cola Masters
Allan Stone (1) Båstad
Ion Țiriac (2) French Open, Cincinnati

The list of winners and number of mixed doubles titles won (Grand Slams and Masters in bold text), alphabetically by last name:

Bob Hewitt (2) Bournemouth, French Open
Ilie Năstase (1) Wimbledon
Marty Riessen (1) US Open

The following players won their first singles title in 1970:

Dick Crealy Båstad
Jan Kodeš French Open

Notes

A Grand Prix circuit for women was introduced in 1971.

References

General

"1970 Grand Prix". Association of Tennis Professionals.

Specific

"How it All Began". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
"Tennis Gets A Grand Prix". The Sydney Morning Herald. Apr 9, 1970.
"Grand Prix Experiment In Tennis Is Planned". The Morning Record. Apr 9, 1970. p. 12.
"Obituaries – Jack Kramer". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 Sep 2009.
"Tennis Assn. Ponders $200,000 Grand Prix". No. The Deseret News. UPI. Jun 23, 1970.
"Tennis Grand Prix picks up more money". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. Aug 14, 1970.
"Richey Clinches Grand Prix Title". The New York Times. Nov 25, 1970.
John Barrett, ed. (1971). World of Tennis '71. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 133–136. ISBN 978-0-362-00091-7.

Men's tennis seasons
Seasons & ILTF Circuit	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
ILTF Independent Tour ITF Independent Tour	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
National Tennis League	1968 1969
World Championship Tennis	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978–81: not held 1982 1983 1984
ILTF Grand Prix ITF Grand Prix	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
ATP Tour	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024