1977 World Championship Tennis circuit

1977 World Championship Tennis circuit

Connors reached most finals
Details
Duration	12 January 1977 – 10 May 1977
Edition	10th
Tournaments	13
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Dick Stockton Jimmy Connors (3)
Most tournament finals	Jimmy Connors (5)
Points leader	Dick Stockton (520)
← 1976 1982 →

The 1977 season of the World Championship Tennis (WCT) circuit was one of the two rival professional male tennis circuits of 1977. It was organized by World Championship Tennis (WCT) and consisted of a preliminary series of twelve tournaments leading up to a singles play-off in Dallas and doubles play-off in Kansas City in May. 23 players participated and the season final was played by the eight best performers. It was won by American Jimmy Connors who defeated compatriot Dick Stockton in four sets. The total prize money for the 1977 WCT circuit was $2,400,000.^[1]

Additionally there were three special events that did not count towards the standings; the Aetna World Cup held in Hartford between America and Australia (10–13 March), the $320,000 Challenge Cup in Las Vegas (14–20 November) and the Tournament of Champions held in Lakeway, Texas (10–13 March, 10–13 July) and Madison Square Garden, New York (17 September).^[1]

In February the WCT sued Björn Borg, as well as his management company IMG. WCT stated that Borg had committed a breach of contract by electing to participate in the competing 1977 Grand Prix circuit instead of the WCT circuit. Borg eventually played a single WCT event, the Monte Carlo WCT, and won the tournament.^[2][3]

Overview

Date	Tournament	Location	Draw	Prize Money	Surface	Winner	Finalist	Score
12 January 1977	Alabama WCT	Birmingham, AL, USA	16S / 8D	$175,000	Indoor / Carpet	Jimmy Connors	Bill Scanlon	6–3, 6–3
24 January 1977	U.S. Pro Indoor	Philadelphia, PA, USA	64S / 32D	$200,000	Indoor / Carpet	Dick Stockton	Jimmy Connors	3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2
31 January 1977	Richmond WCT	Richmond, VA, USA	16S / 8D	$50,000	Indoor / Carpet	Tom Okker	Vitas Gerulaitis	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
7 February 1977	Mexico City WCT	Mexico City, Mexico	16S / 8D		Outdoor / Hard	Ilie Năstase	Wojciech Fibak	4–6, 6–2, 7–6
15 February 1977	Toronto Indoor WCT	Toronto, Canada	16S / 8D	$100,000	Indoor / Carpet	Dick Stockton	Jimmy Connors	5–6, ret.
1 March 1977	Monterrey WCT	Monterrey, Mexico	16S / 8D	$100,000	Indoor / Carpet	Wojciech Fibak	Vitas Gerulaitis	6–4, 6–3
16 March 1977	St. Louis WCT	St. Louis, USA	16S / 8D	$100,000	Indoor / Hard	Jimmy Connors	John Alexander	7–6, 6–2
22 March 1977	Rotterdam WCT	Rotterdam, Netherlands	16S / 8D	$100,000	Indoor / Carpet	Dick Stockton	Ilie Năstase	2–6, 6–3, 6–3
28 March 1977	London WCT	London, UK	16S / 8D	$100,000	Indoor / Carpet	Eddie Dibbs	Vitas Gerulaitis	7–6, 6–7, 6–4
5 April 1977	Monte Carlo WCT	Monte Carlo, Monaco	16S / 8D	$100,000	Outdoor / Clay	Björn Borg	Corrado Barazzutti	6–3, 7–5, 6–0
11 April 1977	Houston WCT	Houston, USA	16S / 8D	$100,000	Outdoor / Hard	Adriano Panatta	Vitas Gerulaitis	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
18 April 1977	Charlotte WCT	Charlotte, NC, USA	16S / 8D	$100,000	Indoor / Carpet	Corrado Barazzutti	Eddie Dibbs	7–6, 6–0
4 May 1977	Kansas WCT Doubles Finals	Kansas City, USA	8D	$200,000	Indoor / Carpet	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton	Vitas Gerulaitis Adriano Panatta	7–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–3
10 May 1977	Dallas WCT Singles Finals	Dallas, TX, USA	8S	$200,000	Indoor / Carpet	Jimmy Connors	Dick Stockton	6–7, 6–1, 6–4, 6–3

Schedule

The schedule of events on the 1977 WCT circuit, with player progression documented until the quarterfinals stage.^[4]

January

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
12 January	Alabama WCT Birmingham, USA	Jimmy Connors 6–3, 6–3	Bill Scanlon	Eddie Dibbs Ray Moore	Cliff Drysdale Sandy Mayer Vitas Gerulaitis Ilie Năstase
		Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker 6–3, 6–4	Billy Martin Bill Scanlon
24 January	U.S. Pro Indoor Philadelphia, USA	Dick Stockton 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2	Jimmy Connors	Jeff Borowiak Cliff Drysdale	Ken Rosewall Vijay Amritraj Bernie Mitton Tony Roche
		Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 7–5, 6–3	Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker
31 January	Richmond WCT Richmond, USA	Tom Okker 3–6, 6–3, 6–4	Vitas Gerulaitis	Corrado Barazzutti Tony Roche	Ross Case Adriano Panatta Manuel Orantes Ilie Năstase
		Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker 6–4, 6–4	Ross Case Tony Roche

February

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 February	Mexico City WCT Mexico City, Mexico	Ilie Năstase 4–6, 6–2, 7–6	Wojciech Fibak	Adriano Panatta Ken Rosewall	Cliff Drysdale Jan Kodes Vitas Gerulaitis Manuel Orantes
		Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker 6–2, 6–3	Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta
16 February	Toronto Indoor Toronto, Canada	Dick Stockton 5–6 ret.	Jimmy Connors	Eddie Dibbs Tom Okker	Rod Laver Ken Rosewall Tony Roche Ross Case
		Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker 6–4, 6–1	Ross Case Tony Roche
28 February	Monterrey WCT Monterrey, Mexico	Wojciech Fibak 6–4, 6–3	Vitas Gerulaitis	Cliff Drysdale Bill Scanlon	Manuel Orantes Raúl Ramírez Harold Solomon Eddie Dibbs
		Ross Case Wojciech Fibak 3–6, 6–3, 6–4	Billy Martin Bill Scanlon

March

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
16 March	St. Louis WCT St. Louis, USA	Jimmy Connors 7–6, 6–2	John Alexander	Harold Solomon Ilie Năstase	Cliff Drysdale Grover Reid Ken Rosewall Bernie Mitton
		Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta 6–4, 3–6, 7–6	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton
22 March	Rotterdam WCT Rotterdam, Netherlands	Dick Stockton 2–6, 6–3, 6–3	Ilie Năstase	Wojciech Fibak Mark Cox	Vijay Amritraj John Alexander Corrado Barazzutti Cliff Drysdale
		Tom Okker Wojciech Fibak 6–4, 6–4	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton
28 March	Rothmans International London London, England	Eddie Dibbs 7–6, 6–7, 6–4	Vitas Gerulaitis	Vijay Amritraj Dick Stockton	Ilie Năstase Ross Case Wojciech Fibak Harold Solomon
		Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta 7–6^(7–5), 6–7^(3–7), 6–3	Mark Cox Eddie Dibbs

April

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
5 April	Monte Carlo WCT Monte Carlo, Monaco	Björn Borg 6–3, 7–5, 6–0	Corrado Barazzutti	Jan Kodeš Guillermo Vilas	Balázs Taróczy Wojciech Fibak Eddie Dibbs Adriano Panatta
		François Jauffret Jan Kodeš 2–6, 6–3, 6–2	Wojciech Fibak Tom Okker
11 April	Houston Open Houston, USA	Adriano Panatta 7–6, 6–7, 6–1	Vitas Gerulaitis	Eddie Dibbs Ilie Năstase	Ken Rosewall Harold Solomon Tony Roche Ross Case
		Ilie Năstase Adriano Panatta 6–3, 6–4	John Alexander Phil Dent
18 April	Carolinas International Tennis Tournament Charlotte, USA	Corrado Barazzutti 7–6, 6–0	Eddie Dibbs	Adriano Panatta John Alexander	Tom Okker Cliff Drysdale Harold Solomon Tony Roche
		Tom Okker Ken Rosewall 6–1, 3–6, 7–6	Corrado Barazzutti Adriano Panatta

Special events

These WCT events did not count towards the standings.^[1]

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
10 March	World Cup Hartford, USA	USA 7–0	Australia	N.A.	N.A.
10 April	Caesar's Palace Challenge[5] Las Vegas, USA $100,000	Ilie Năstase 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 7–5	Jimmy Connors	N.A.	N.A.
10 March – 10 July – 17 September	Shakeys Tournament of Champions Lakeway, USA New York, USA (final)	Harold Solomon 7–6, 6–2, 2–6, 0–6, 6–3	Ken Rosewall	Dick Stockton Eddie Dibbs	Phil Dent Jimmy Connors Ilie Năstase Vijay Amritraj

Standings

Player	Tournaments Played	Tournaments Won	Matches Won	Matches Lost	Points
Dick Stockton ^*	7	3	15	4	520
Eddie Dibbs ^*	9	1	17	8	500
Jimmy Connors ^*	5	2	12	3	460
Ilie Năstase ^*	8	1	15	7	440
Cliff Drysdale ^*	9	0	10	8	420
Wojtek Fibak ^*	9	1	11	8	420
Vitas Gerulaitis ^*	7	0	15	7	420
Adriano Panatta ^*	9	1	11	8	400
Corrado Barazzutti	7	1	10	6	330
Ken Rosewall	8	0	7	8	320
Harold Solomon	9	0	7	8	320

^* Qualified for the WCT Finals.

See also

• 1977 Grand Prix circuit

References

1. John Barrett, ed. (1978). World of Tennis. London: Macdonald and Jane's. pp. 171–177. ISBN 978-0354090391.
2. "W.C.T. Sues Borg and Colgate, Alleging a Breach of Contract". The New York Times. Feb 4, 1977.
3. "Borg Being Sued". Ludington Daily News. Feb 2, 1977.
4. atpworldtour.com. "1977 Grand Prix and WCT circuits calendar".
5. "Nastase whips Connors for Challenge Cup title". Ellensburg Daily Record. UPI. Apr 11, 1977. p. 9.

External links

• ATP Website 1977 Calendar