The 1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year.
Details | |
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Duration | 9 January 1978 – 24 December 1978 |
Edition | 9th |
Tournaments | 84 |
Categories | Grand Slam (4) Grand Prix (71) World Championship Tennis (8) Team Events (1) |
Achievements (singles) | |
Most tournament titles | Jimmy Connors (10) |
Most tournament finals | Jimmy Connors (12) |
Prize money leader | Eddie Dibbs ($575,273) |
Points leader | Jimmy Connors (2,030) |
Awards | |
Player of the year | Björn Borg |
Newcomer of the year | John McEnroe |
← 1977 1979 → |
It consisted of four Grand Slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tournaments and the Nations Cup, a team event. In addition eight World Championship Tennis (WCT) tournaments, a separate professional tennis circuit held from 1971 through 1977, were incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit. The 28 tournaments with prize money of $175,000 or more formed the Super Series category. Jimmy Connors won 10 of the 84 tournaments which secured him the first place in the Grand Prix points ranking. However he did not play enough tournaments (13) to qualify for largest share ($300,000) of the bonus pool, which instead went to third–ranked Eddie Dibbs.
The table below shows the 1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix schedule (a forerunner to the ATP Tour).
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
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11 Dec | WCT Challenge Cup Montego Bay, Jamaica Hard – 8S | Ilie Năstase 2–6, 5–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–4 | Peter Fleming | Raúl Ramírez Björn Borg | Round robin John McEnroeDick Stockton Harold Solomon Roscoe Tanner |
18 Dec | New South Wales Open Sydney, Australia Grass – $100,000 – 64S/32D | Tim Wilkison 6–3, 6–3, 6–7, 3–6, 6–2 | Kim Warwick | Sherwood Stewart John Alexander | Guillermo Vilas Paul Kronk Allan Stone Bernard Mitton |
Hank Pfister Sherwood Stewart 6–4, 6–4 | Syd Ball Bob Carmichael | ||||
25 Dec | Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Grass Singles – Doubles | Guillermo Vilas 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 | John Marks | Hank Pfister Arthur Ashe | Tony Roche Paul Kronk Peter Feigl John Alexander |
Wojciech Fibak Kim Warwick 7–6, 7–5 | Paul Kronk Cliff Letcher |
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
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8 Jan | Colgate-Palmolive Masters New York City, US Carpet (i) – $400,000 – S8/D4 | John McEnroe 6–7, 6–3, 7–5 | Arthur Ashe | Brian Gottfried Eddie Dibbs | Jimmy Connors Harold Solomon Raúl Ramírez Corrado Barazutti |
Peter Fleming John McEnroe 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 | Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker |
The tournaments of the 1978 Grand Prix circuit were divided into nine point categories. The highest points were allocated to the Grand Slam tournaments; French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, the US Open and the Australian Open. The eight WCT events were part of the $175,000-plus "Super Grand Prix" category. Points were allocated based on these categories and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. The points table is based on a 32 player draw. No points were awarded to first-round losers and advancements by default were equal to winning a round. The points allocation, with doubles points listed in brackets, is as follows:
Grand Slam | $250,000+ | $225,000+ | $200,000+ | $175,000+ | $125,000+ | $100,000+ | $75,000+ | $50,000+ | |
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Winner | 300 (60) | 250 (50) | 225 (45) | 200 (40) | 175 (35) | 125 (25) | 100 (20) | 75 (15) | 50 (10) |
Runner-up | 210 (42) | 175 (35) | 157 (31) | 140 (28) | 122 (24) | 87 (17) | 70 (14) | 52 (10) | 35 (7) |
Semifinalist | 120 (24) | 100 (20) | 90 (18) | 80 (16) | 70 (14) | 50 (10) | 40 (8) | 30 (6) | 20 (4) |
Quarterfinalist | 60 (12) | 50 (10) | 45 (9) | 40 (8) | 35 (7) | 25 (5) | 20 (4) | 15 (3) | 10 (2) |
Fourth round | 30 (6) | 25 (5) | 22 (5) | 20 (4) | 17 (3) | 12 (2) | 10 (2) | 7 (–) | 5 (–) |
Third round | 15 (–) | 12 (–) | 11 (–) | 10 (–) | 9 (–) | 6 (–) | 5 (–) | – (–) | – (–) |
Second round | 7 (–) | 6 (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) |
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*The official ATP year-end rankings were listed from January 3rd, 1979.
The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name:
The following players won their first title in 1978: