Tennis 1970 Grand Prix

It was the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix circuit and consisted of men's tournaments recognised by the ILTF. 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. 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.

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 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. Cliff Richey earned $25,000 bonus as the winner of the first Grand Prix circuit. 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 Originally the Italian Championships, played in April in Rome, was part of the Grand Prix calendar but it was withdrawn during the tournament when it became known that they had paid management fees to the competing World Championship Tennis organization.

Key

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
		Dick Crealy   Allan Stone 6–2, 2–6, 12–12 RET.	Željko Franulović   Jan Kodeš
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
		Bob Hewitt   Frew McMillan 7–5, 6–0	Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac
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
		Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac 6–3, 6–4	Bob Hewitt   Frew McMillan
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
		Arthur Ashe   Clark Graebner 2–6, 6–4, 6–4	Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac

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
		John Newcombe   Tony Roche 8–6, 5–7, 6–4	Roy Emerson   Rod Laver
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
		Owen Davidson   Niki Pilić 6–4, 7–5, 6–4	Bob Hewitt   Frew McMillan
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
		Roy Emerson   Rod Laver 6–1, 7–6	Ismail El Shafei   Torben Ulrich
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
	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
		Patricio Cornejo   Jaime Fillol 3–6, 7–6, 7–6	Andrés Gimeno   Rod Laver

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
		Tom Okker   Marty Riessen 7–6, 6–2	Bob Lutz   Stan Smith
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
		Bob Lutz   Stan Smith 6–2, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2	Roy Barth   Tom Gorman

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
		Dick Crealy   Ray Ruffels 7–6, 6–3	Jan Kodeš   Charlie Pasarell

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
		Arthur Ashe   Stan Smith 6–0, 5–7, 7–5	Bob Carmichael   Owen Davidson
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
	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
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
		Ken Rosewall   Stan Smith 6–4, 6–3, 6–2	Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac

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
		Arthur Ashe   Stan Smith	Jan Kodeš   Rod Laver

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:

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

• 1970 World Championship Tennis circuit