Tennis 1972 Grand Prix

It consisted of 33 Grand Prix tournaments in different categories including three of the four Grand Slam tournaments and was followed by a season-ending Masters tournament. The circuit ran from February through November.

1972 Grand Prix circuit

Stan Smith at 2009 US Open
Details
Duration	14 February 1972 – 28 November 1972
Edition	3rd
Tournaments	33
Categories	Group AA (3) Group A (7) Group B (4) Group C (14) Group D (5)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Stan Smith (9)
Most tournament finals	Ilie Năstase (11)
Prize money leader	Ilie Năstase (£21,000)
Points leader	Ilie Năstase (659)
← 1971 1973 →

The 1972 Grand Prix circuit ran in competition with the 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit and, to a lesser extent, with the smaller 1972 USLTA Indoor Circuit. Five American indoor tournament in February and March were als part of the USLTA Indoor Circuit. In July 1971 at its annual meeting, the ILTF voted to ban all WCT contract professionals from their tournaments and facilities from the beginning of 1972 onwards. This meant that leading WCT players such as Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe and John Newcombe did not initially have permission to compete in the Grand Prix circuit and Newcombe could not defend his two consecutive Wimbledon titles of 1970 and 1971. In April 1972, however, an agreement was reached between the ILTF and WCT that divided the 1973 tour in a WCT circuit that ran from January through April and a Grand Prix circuit that was scheduled for the rest of the year. Under the agreement the players contracted by the WCT could play in the Grand Prix events as of September 1972. The deal was ratified at the annual ILTF meeting in July.

Key

February

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
14 Feb	The May Co. International Los Angeles, California, US Group C 32S/16D	Andrés Gimeno 6–3, 2–6, 6–2	Pierre Barthès	Jimmy Connors   Thomaz Koch	Vladimír Zedník   Cliff Richey   Pancho Gonzales   Ilie Năstase
		Jim Osborne   Jim McManus 6–2, 5–7, 6–4	Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac
20 Feb	U.S. National Indoor Championships Salisbury, Maryland, US Group B Hard – $50,000 – 64S/32D	Stan Smith 5–7, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4	Ilie Năstase	Haroon Rahim   Gerald Battrick	Jaime Fillol   Clark Graebner   Manuel Orantes   Tom Gorman
		Manuel Orantes   Andrés Gimeno 6–4, 6–3	Juan Gisbert   Vladimír Zedník
28 Feb	Clean Air Classic New York, US Group C 64S	Stan Smith 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–1	Juan Gisbert	Cliff Richey   Ilie Năstase	Alejandro Olmedo   Ove Nils Bengtson   Andrés Gimeno   Jimmy Connors

March

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
5 Mar	National Indoor Championships Hampton, Virginia, US Group C Hard (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Stan Smith 6–3, 6–2, 6–7, 6–4	Ilie Năstase	Andrés Gimeno   Cliff Richey	Juan Gisbert   Jimmy Connors   Georges Goven   Ian Crookenden
		Ion Țiriac   Ilie Năstase 7–5, 7–5	Andrés Gimeno   Manuel Orantes
12 Mar	Equity Funding International Washington, D.C., US Group C Carpet (i) – $25,000 – 32S/16D	Stan Smith 6–3, 6–2, 6–7, 6–4	Jimmy Connors	Tom Gorman   Manuel Orantes	Jim Osborne   Cliff Richey   Ilie Năstase   Pierre Barthès
		Cliff Richey   Tom Edlefsen 6–4, 6–3	Clark Graebner   Thomaz Koch
27 Mar	Monte Carlo Open Championships Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France Group C Clay – $20,000 – 32S/32D	Ilie Năstase 6–1, 6–0, 6–3	František Pála	Boro Jovanović   Jiří Hřebec	Bernard Mignot   Ion Țiriac   Szabolcs Baranyi   Péter Szőke
		Patrice Beust   Daniel Contet 3–6, 6–1, 12–10, 6–2	Jiří Hřebec   František Pála

April

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
8 Apr	South African Open * Johannesburg, South Africa Group A Hard – 32S/16D	Cliff Richey 6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 6–4	Manuel Orantes	Andrés Gimeno   Jaime Fillol	Martin Mulligan   Bob Hewitt   Andrew Pattison   Pat Cramer
		Bob Hewitt   Frew McMillan 6–2, 6–2, 6–4	Georges Goven   Ray Moore
16 Apr	Melia Trophy International Madrid, Spain Group B Clay – 32S/32D	Ilie Năstase 6–0, 6–0, 6–1	František Pála	Jan Kodeš   Patrick Proisy	Szabolcs Baranyi   Andrés Gimeno   Manuel Orantes   Adriano Panatta
		Stan Smith   Ilie Năstase 6–3, 6–4, 6–4	Andrés Gimeno   Manuel Orantes
23 Apr	Nice International Championships Nice, France Group D Clay – $30,000 – 48S/8D	Ilie Năstase 6–0, 6–4, 6–3	Jan Kodeš	Stan Smith   Boro Jovanović	Barry Phillips-Moore   Dick Crealy   Pierre Barthès   Gerald Battrick
		Stan Smith   Jan Kodeš 6–3, 3–6, 7–5	Frew McMillan   Ilie Năstase
24 Apr	Italian Open Rome, Italy * Group A Clay – $56,000 – 64S/32D	Manuel Orantes 4–6, 6–1, 7–5, 6–2	Jan Kodeš	Ilie Năstase   Barry Phillips-Moore	Andrew Pattison   Paolo Bertolucci   Alex Metreveli   Jean-Loup Rouyer
		Ion Țiriac   Ilie Năstase 3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 5–3 ret.	Frew McMillan   Lew Hoad

May

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
13 May	British Hard Court Championships Bournemouth, England * Group C Clay – 32S/16D	Bob Hewitt 6–2, 6–4, 6–3	Pierre Barthès	Ilie Năstase   Stan Smith	Ion Țiriac   Jimmy Connors   Pat Cramer   Jürgen Fassbender
		Frew McMillan   Bob Hewitt 7–5, 6–2	Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac
14 May	Belgian Open Championships Brussels, Belgium Group C Clay – $25,000 – 32S/16D	Manuel Orantes 6–4, 6–1, 2–6, 7–5	Andrés Gimeno	Harold Solomon   Barry Phillips-Moore	Patrick Hombergen   Juan Gisbert   Harald Elschenbroich   Vladimír Zedník
		Manuel Orantes   Juan Gisbert 9–7, 6–3	Patricio Cornejo   Jaime Fillol
22 May	French Open * Paris, France Grand Slam Group AA Clay	Andrés Gimeno 4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 6–1	Patrick Proisy	Alex Metreveli   Manuel Orantes	Adriano Panatta   Stan Smith   Harold Solomon   Jan Kodeš
		Frew McMillan   Bob Hewitt 6–3, 8–6, 3–6, 6–1	Patricio Cornejo   Jaime Fillol
		Evonne Goolagong   Kim Warwick 6–2, 6–4	Françoise Dürr   Jean-Claude Barclay

June

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
5 Jun	German Open Championships Hamburg, West Germany * Group B Clay – 32S/32D	Manuel Orantes 6–3, 9–8, 6–0	Adriano Panatta	Ilie Năstase   Stan Smith	Ion Țiriac   Jimmy Connors   Pat Cramer   Jürgen Fassbender
		Ilie Năstase   Jan Kodeš 4–6, 6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2	Bob Hewitt   Ion Țiriac
17 Jun	Bristol Open Bristol, England * Group C Grass – 32S/32D	Bob Hewitt 6–4, 6–3	Alejandro Olmedo	François Jauffret   Clark Graebner	John De Mendoza   Colin Dibley   John Paish   Andrew Pattison
		Frew McMillan   Bob Hewitt 6–3, 6–2	Clark Graebner   Lew Hoad
26 Jun	Wimbledon * London, England Grand Slam Group AA Grass	Stan Smith 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 4–6, 7–5	Ilie Năstase	Jan Kodeš   Manuel Orantes	Alex Metreveli   Onny Parun   Colin Dibley   Jimmy Connors
		Bob Hewitt   Frew McMillan 6–2, 6–2, 9–7	Stan Smith   Erik van Dillen
		Rosemary Casals   Ilie Năstase 6–4, 6–4	Evonne Goolagong   Kim Warwick

July

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
16 Jul	Swedish Open Båstad, Sweden Group C Clay – 32S/16D	Manuel Orantes 6–4, 6–3, 6–1	Ilie Năstase	Juan Gisbert   Balázs Taróczy	Björn Borg   Colin Dibley   Szabolcs Baranyi   Jose Mandarino
		Manuel Orantes   Juan Gisbert 6–3, 7–6	Neale Fraser   Ilie Năstase
	Swiss Open Championships Gstaad, Switzerland Group C Clay – $25,000 – 32S/16D	Andrés Gimeno 7–5, 9–8, 6–4	Adriano Panatta	Ion Țiriac   Barry Phillips-Moore	Roscoe Tanner   Jean-Loup Rouyer   Patrick Hombergen   Sandy Mayer
		Andrés Gimeno   Antonio Muñoz 9–8, 4–6, 6–1, 7–5	Adriano Panatta   Ion Țiriac
22 Jul	Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Austria Group D Clay – 32S/32D	Colin Dibley 6–1, 6–3, 6–4	Dick Crealy	Jose Mandarino   Onny Parun	Harald Elschenbroich   Nicholas Kalogeropoulos   Barry Phillips-Moore   François Jauffret
		Hans-Jürgen Pohmann   Jürgen Fassbender 7–6, 6–4, 6–4	Mal Anderson   Geoff Masters
23 Jul	Buckeye Classic Columbus, Ohio, US Group D Hard – $25,000 – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Jimmy Connors 7–5, 6–3, 7–5	Andrew Pattison	Dick Stockton   Bob Hewitt	Charles Owens   Steve Faulk   Pancho Gonzales   Jim McManus
		Pancho Gonzales   Jimmy Connors 6–3, 7–5	Robert McKinley   Dick Stockton
30 Jul	Tanglewood International Tennis Classic Clemmons, North Carolina, US Group D Clay – $25,000 – 32S/16D	Bob Hewitt 3–6, 6–3, 6–1	Andrew Pattison	Dick Stockton   Steve Faulk	Butch Seewagen   Onny Parun   Ian Fletcher   Jeff Austin
		Andrew Pattison   Bob Hewitt 6–4, 6–4	Jim McManus   Jim Osborne
31 Jul	Cincinnati Open Cincinnati, Ohio, US * Group C Clay – $42,500 – 64S/32D	Jimmy Connors 6–3, 6–3	Guillermo Vilas	Jaime Pinto-Bravo   Frew McMillan	Barry Phillips-Moore   Andrew Pattison   Jun Kamiwazumi   Sandy Mayer
		Frew McMillan   Bob Hewitt 7–6, 6–4	Paul Gerken   Humphrey Hose

August

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 Aug	U.S. Clay Court Championships Indianapolis, Indiana, US * Group A Clay – $60,000 – 64S/32D	Bob Hewitt 7–6, 6–1, 6–2	Jimmy Connors	Toshiro Sakai   Frew McMillan	Patrice Dominguez   Colin Dibley   Jan Kodeš   Paul Gerken
		Frew McMillan   Bob Hewitt 6–2, 6–3	Patricio Cornejo   Jaime Fillol
14 Aug	Rothmans Canadian Open Championships Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Group A Clay – $70,000 – 128S/64D	Ilie Năstase 6–4, 6–3	Andrew Pattison	Jaime Fillol   Patrick Proisy	Jairo Velasco   Bob Hewitt   Guillermo Vilas   Adriano Panatta
		Ion Țiriac   Ilie Năstase 7–6, 6–3	Jan Kodeš   Jan Kukal
28 Aug	US Open Forest Hills, New York, US * Grand Slam Group AA Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	Ilie Năstase 3–6, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4, 6–3	Arthur Ashe	Cliff Richey   Tom Gorman	Stan Smith   Frew McMillan   Fred Stolle   Roscoe Tanner
		Cliff Drysdale   Roger Taylor 6–4, 7–6, 6–3	Owen Davidson   John Newcombe
		Margaret Court   Marty Riessen 6–3, 7–5	Rosemary Casals   Ilie Năstase

September

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
17 Sep	Central California Championships Sacramento, California, US Group C Hard – $25,000 – 32S/16D	Stan Smith 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4	Colin Dibley	Andrew Pattison   Raymond Moore	Erik van Dillen   Rick Fisher   Tom Edlefsen   Alejandro Olmedo
		Stan Smith   Erik van Dillen 4–6, 6–2, 6–4	Patrice Dominguez   Patrick Proisy
	Rainier International Tennis Classic Seattle, Washington, US Group C Hard – $25,000 – 32S/8D	Ilie Năstase 6–4, 3–6, 6–3	Tom Gorman	Bob Hewitt   Jaime Fillol	Onny Parun   Ian Fletcher   Ross Case   Sherwood Stewart
		Geoff Masters   Ross Case 4–6, 7–6, 6–4	Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau   Wanaro N'Godrella
25 Sep	Golden Gate Pacific Coast Classic Albany, California, US Group C Carpet – $34,000 – 64S/32D	Jimmy Connors 6–2, 7–6(5–3)	Roscoe Tanner	Andrew Pattison   Bob Hewitt	Frew McMillan   Jaime Fillol   Pierre Barthès   Colin Dibley
		Frew McMillan   Bob Hewitt 6–2, 2–6, 6–2	Björn Borg   Ove Nils Bengtson
	Pacific Southwest Open Los Angeles, California, US Group A Hard – $60,000 – 64S/64D Singles – Doubles	Stan Smith 6–4, 6–4	Roscoe Tanner	Tom Okker   Tom Gorman	Manuel Orantes   Ken Rosewall   Raymond Moore   Bob Carmichael
		Pancho Gonzales   Jimmy Connors 6–3, 7–6	Ismail El Shafei   Brian Fairlie

October

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
23 Oct	Trofeo Conde de Godó Barcelona, Spain Group A Clay – $66,250 – 32S/32D	Jan Kodeš 6–3, 6–2, 6–3	Manuel Orantes	Stan Smith   Ilie Năstase	Andrew Pattison   Colin Dibley   Andrés Gimeno   Tom Gorman
		Manuel Orantes   Juan Gisbert 6–3, 3–6, 6–4	Frew McMillan   Ilie Năstase
30 Oct	Jean Becker Open Paris, France Group B Hard – $50,000 – 32S/32D Singles – Doubles	Stan Smith 6–2, 6–2, 7–5	Andrés Gimeno	Jan Kodeš   Tom Gorman	Patrice Dominguez   Raymond Moore   Jimmy Connors   Ilie Năstase
		François Jauffret   Pierre Barthès 6–3, 6–2	Andrés Gimeno   Juan Gisbert

November

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
12 Nov	Stockholm Open Stockholm, Sweden Group A Hard – $63,000 – 64S/32D	Stan Smith 6–4, 6–3	Tom Okker	Marty Riessen   Ilie Năstase	Nikola Pilić   Roger Taylor   Andrew Pattison   Cliff Drysdale
		Marty Riessen   Tom Okker 7–5, 7–6	Colin Dibley   Roy Emerson
18 Nov	Dewar Cup Nottingham/London, England Carpet – 32S/16D	Ilie Năstase 6–4, 6–3	Tom Gorman	Jimmy Connors   Onny Parun	Patrick Proisy   Frew McMillan   Barry Phillips-Moore   Andrew Pattison
28 Nov	Masters Barcelona, Spain Hard (i) – $55,000 – 8S	Ilie Năstase 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3	Stan Smith

^* Tournaments combined with a women's Grand Prix tour event.

No points were awarded for first round losers

Player	Tournaments played	Points	Prize money
Ilie Năstase	24	659	£21,000
Stan Smith	19	587	£14,700
Manuel Orantes	19	468	£10,500
Jan Kodeš	14	332	£8,400
Andrés Gimeno	20	319	£6,720
Bob Hewitt	15	263	£5,460
Jimmy Connors	22	251	£5,040
Tom Gorman	19	227	£4,620
Andrew Pattison	21	204	£4,200
Patrick Proisy	13	172	£3,780

Cliff Richey, Roscoe Tanner, Alex Metreveli, Tom Okker and Arthur Ashe played too few Grand Prix tournaments to qualify for prize money.

The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name:

•   Jimmy Connors (6) Roanoke, Queen's Club, Columbus, Cincinnati, Albany, Jacksonville
•   John Cooper (1) Hilversum
•   Colin Dibley (1) Kitzbühel
•   Tom Edlefsen (1) Kansas City
•   Andrés Gimeno (3) Los Angeles, French Open, Eastbourne, Gstaad
•   Pancho Gonzalez (1) Des Moines
•   Bob Hewitt (4) Bournemouth, Bristol, Tanglewood, Indianapolis
•   Jan Kodeš (1) Barcelons
•   Karl Meiler (1) Buenos Aires
•   Alex Metreveli (3) Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide
•   Ilie Năstase (11) Baltimore, Omaha, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Nice, Düsseldorf, Montreal, South Orange, Seattle, US Open, London, Masters
•   Manuel Orantes (5) Caracas, Rome, Brussels, Hamburg, Båstad
•   Cliff Richey (2) London Indoor, Johannesburg
•   Stan Smith (7) Salisbury, Hampton, Wimbledon, Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Los Angeles, Paris Bercy, Stockholm
•   Roger Taylor (1) Merion

The following players won their first Grand Prix title in 1972:

•   Colin Dibley Kitzbühel
•   Bob Hewitt Bournemouth

• 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit
• 1972 Women's Grand Prix
• 1972 Virginia Slims Circuit
• 1972 USLTA Indoor Circuit