# The Open Era · Tennis Level 9: Master

Tennis · Level 9: Master · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/tennis/level-9/the-open-era/)

The Open Era in Tennis (Level 9: Master) on Insporta: 40 sourced facts behind 4 tests. Covers: amateurs and professionals; 1968: the game opens; and more.

How tennis opened up in 1968: the split between amateurs and professionals, the first open tournaments, the players organising, and the fight for equal prize money.

## Test 1: Amateurs and professionals

- The majors were amateur events until the Open Era began. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Professional tours paid players, but meant losing entry to the majors. (Source: General tennis history references (ITF history, International Tennis Hall of Fame))
- Turning pro shut him out of the majors until they opened in 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Under-the-table payments to 'amateurs' were a known problem before 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- With the leading pros absent, the majors were not the best players against the best. (Source: General tennis history references (ITF history, International Tennis Hall of Fame))
- Pros played their own tours and events away from the amateur circuit. (Source: General tennis history references (ITF history, International Tennis Hall of Fame))
- He did it as an amateur in 1962 and again in the Open Era in 1969. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- 1962, then the pro years, the 1968 return and the 1969 Grand Slam. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The ban ended with open tennis in 1968, and Laver's second Slam followed in 1969. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- After turning pro, Laver played the pro tours and was barred from the majors. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)

## Test 2: 1968: the game opens

- Professionals were allowed back into the majors in 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Bournemouth staged the first open event in April 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The British Hard Court Championships were played on clay at the West Hants Club. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Rosewall became the first champion of the Open Era. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Wade won the women's title but, as an amateur, could not accept the money. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The ILTF ratified open tennis on 30 March 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The best players could finally all meet at the majors. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- March vote, April at Bournemouth, then the first open Wimbledon in the summer. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- 1877, 1900 and 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The British Hard Court Championships ran in April 1968. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)

## Test 3: The players organise

- Players formed the ATP at the US Open in September 1972. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Players met at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, during the 1972 US Open. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The ATP backed Pilic, whose federation had suspended him over a Davis Cup tie. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Most top men stayed away, showing that the players acted together. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Women players formed the WTA in London in June 1973. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Women players met in London in June 1973, just before Wimbledon. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- King beat Riggs in straight sets at the Houston Astrodome. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- September 1972, then June 1973 (boycott and WTA) and September 1973. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- 1913, 1972 and 1973. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The 1973 boycott kept most of the leading men away. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)

## Test 4: Equal prize money

- The 1973 US Open was the first to pay the same to both champions. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Wimbledon announced equal prize money in 2007. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- King received $15,000 less than the men's champion in 1972. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- From the US Open in 1973 to Wimbledon in 2007. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- A massive TV audience watched King win, boosting the case for women's sport. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- Once open, the majors offered prize money, and its split became an issue. (Source: General tennis history references (ITF history, International Tennis Hall of Fame))
- TV coverage helped the professional game grow quickly in the 1970s. (Source: General tennis history references (ITF history, International Tennis Hall of Fame))
- 1968, 1973 and 2007. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- The 1972 gap came first; the WTA was formed in June 1973 and that year's US Open, played at the end of the summer, paid equally; Wimbledon followed in 2007. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)
- 1973 is the US Open; 2007 is Wimbledon. (Source: ATP Tour and Tennis Majors, Open Era history)

Sources: ITF history, International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Grand Slam tournaments' own histories, Davis Cup, Olympedia and ATP. Original questions authored, nothing reproduced.

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