WCT Finals

The WCT Finals was a men's tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. From 1971–1989 the event was held annually in Texas on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.^[1] The 1972–1979 editions were played at Moody Coliseum, and the 1980–1989 tournaments at Reunion Arena in Dallas.^[2] The 1974 edition was the first tennis tournament to experiment with electronic line calling. The first edition of the WCT Finals was in November 1971, just a few days before the equivalent event of the rival Grand Prix circuit. But the second edition occurred just six months later to accommodate NBC's new tennis coverage; the tournament final between Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver is credited as "the match that made tennis in the United States" because its unprecedented domestic television audience of 23 million fueled a massive increase in the sport's popularity.^[3][4] The ensuing editions were also held in the spring. John McEnroe had the most overall success, winning a record five titles. Because of the popularity of the 1972 final, another edition, less important and with half the prize money, was held in November in Rome.The prize money offered to the winner, Arthur Ashe, was US$25,000 compared to the US$50,000 won by Ken Rosewall for the main edition in May. A decade later there were three editions of the WCT Finals; the most important one in Dallas, and the others in autumn in Naples, Italy, and in winter (in January 1983) in Detroit. The tournament was sponsored by Buick between 1985 and 1986, a brand of General Motors, and was called the "Buick WCT Finals".

WCT Finals
Tournament information
Founded	1971
Abolished	1989
Editions	19
Location	Dallas, Texas United States
Venue	Moody Coliseum (1971–1979) Reunion Arena (1980–1989)
Category	Year-end championships
Surface	Carpet / Indoor

Finals

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1971	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6–4, 1–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–4)
1972	Ken Rosewall (2)	Rod Laver	4–6, 6–0, 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 7–6(7–5)
1973	Stan Smith	Arthur Ashe	6–3, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
1974	John Newcombe	Björn Borg	4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–2
1975	Arthur Ashe	Björn Borg	3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–0
1976	Björn Borg	Guillermo Vilas	1–6, 6–1, 7–5, 6–1
1977	Jimmy Connors	Dick Stockton	6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–4, 6–3
1978	Vitas Gerulaitis	Eddie Dibbs	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
1979	John McEnroe	Björn Borg	7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–5)
1980	Jimmy Connors (2)	John McEnroe	2–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–1, 6–2
1981	John McEnroe (2)	Johan Kriek	6–1, 6–2, 6–4
1982	Ivan Lendl	John McEnroe	6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3
1983	John McEnroe (3)	Ivan Lendl	6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–0)
1984	John McEnroe (4)	Jimmy Connors	6–1, 6–2, 6–3
1985	Ivan Lendl (2)	Tim Mayotte	7–6(7–4), 6–4, 6–1
1986	Anders Järryd	Boris Becker	6–7(3–7), 6–1, 6–1, 6–4
1987	Miloslav Mečíř	John McEnroe	6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
1988	Boris Becker	Stefan Edberg	6–4, 1–6, 7–5, 6–2
1989	John McEnroe (5)	Brad Gilbert	6–3, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)

Seasonal finals events

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1972 winter (Rome)	Arthur Ashe	Bob Lutz	6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6
1982 fall (Naples)	Ivan Lendl	Wojciech Fibak	6–4, 6–2, 6–1
1982 winter (Detroit)[5]	Ivan Lendl	Guillermo Vilas	7–5, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4

Records

#	Titles
5	John McEnroe
2	Ken Rosewall
	Jimmy Connors
	Ivan Lendl

#	Finals
8	John McEnroe
4	Björn Borg
3	Jimmy Connors
	Ivan Lendl
2	Ken Rosewall
	Rod Laver
	Arthur Ashe
	Boris Becker

#	Appearances
9	John McEnroe
6	Arthur Ashe
5	Rod Laver
	Björn Borg
	Vitas Gerulaitis
	Jimmy Connors
	Ivan Lendl

#	Match wins
21	John McEnroe
10	Björn Borg
	Jimmy Connors
	Ivan Lendl
7	Ken Rosewall
	Arthur Ashe
	Vitas Gerulaitis

• Won without dropping a set: John McEnroe (1981, 1984)
• Singles–doubles titles winners: Stan Smith (S–D), John McEnroe (S–D)

See also

• WCT World Doubles
• Grand Slam Cup
• ATP Finals

References

1. Lamar Hunt (April 1986). "Lamar Hunt muses on 16 years of the WCT". D Magazine.
2. George Hardie (March 1988). "George Hardie Remembers..." D Magazine.
3. "1972: The Rod Laver vs. Ken Rosewall WCT Final in Dallas". tennis.com.
4. Only one match has since had a larger U.S. TV audience: the legendary Battle of the Sexes the following year, signifying how popular tennis had become during this boom period.
5. held in January, 24-30, 1983

External links

• ATP tournament archive