Wembley Championships

Wembley Championship
Defunct tennis tournament
Founded	1934
Abolished	1990
Location	London, England
Venue	Empire Pool
Surface	Indoor (Wood)

The Wembley Championships was a men's professional tennis tournament held from 1934–1990 with some periods of inactivity in between and is considered as a part of the professional grand slam from 1927–1967 until the advent of the open era. Ken Rosewall's and Rod Laver's six singles titles are the record for this event. The tournament only had a men's draw.

It was first held in 1934 at the Empire Pool at Wembley.^[1]

In the mid-1960s it was considered as one of the three major professional tournaments, alongside the United States Professional Championship and French Professional Championship.^[2]

In 1970 it was the penultimate event on the Grand Prix Tennis Tour.^[3]

Name

It was officially called the Wembley Professional Championships, although it was later named the London Indoor Professional Championships.

Champions

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Surface
Professional Era
1934	Ellsworth Vines	Hans Nüsslein	4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 8–6^r1	Indoor
1935	Ellsworth Vines	Bill Tilden	6–1, 6–3, 5–7, 3–6, 6–3	Indoor
1936	Ellsworth Vines	Hans Nüsslein	6–4, 6–4, 6–2	Indoor
1937	Hans Nüsslein	Bill Tilden	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–2	Indoor
1938	Hans Nüsslein	Bill Tilden	7–5, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2	Indoor
1939	Don Budge	Hans Nüsslein	13–11, 2–6, 6–4^r2	Indoor
1940–1948	Not Held
1949 [4]	Jack Kramer	Bobby Riggs	2–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4	Indoor
1950	Pancho Gonzales	Welby Van Horn	6–3, 6–3, 6–2	Indoor
1951	Pancho Gonzales	Pancho Segura	6–2, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4	Indoor
1952	Pancho Gonzales	Jack Kramer	3–6, 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 7–5	Indoor
1953	Frank Sedgman	Pancho Gonzales	6–1, 6–2, 6–2	Indoor
1954–1955	Not Held
1956	Pancho Gonzales	Frank Sedgman	4–6, 11–9, 11–9, 9–7	Indoor
1957	Ken Rosewall	Pancho Segura	1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4	Indoor
1958	Frank Sedgman	Tony Trabert	6–4, 6–3, 6–4	Indoor
1959	Mal Anderson	Pancho Segura	4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 8–6	Indoor
1960	Ken Rosewall	Pancho Segura	5–7, 8–6, 6–1, 6–3	Indoor
1961	Ken Rosewall	Lew Hoad	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3	Indoor
1962	Ken Rosewall	Lew Hoad	6–4, 5–7, 15–13, 7–5	Indoor
1963	Ken Rosewall	Lew Hoad	6–4, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3	Indoor
1964	Rod Laver	Ken Rosewall	7–5, 4–6, 5–7, 8–6, 8–6	Indoor
1965	Rod Laver	Andrés Gimeno	6–2, 6–3, 6–4	Indoor
1966	Rod Laver	Ken Rosewall	6–2, 6–2, 6–3	Indoor
1967	Rod Laver	Ken Rosewall	2–6, 6–1, 1–6, 8–6, 6–2	Indoor
Open Era
1968	Ken Rosewall	John Newcombe	6–4, 4–6, 7–5, 6–4	Indoor
1969	Rod Laver	Tony Roche	6–4, 6–1, 6–3	Indoor
1970	Rod Laver	Cliff Richey	6–3, 6–4, 7–5	Indoor
1971	Ilie Năstase	Rod Laver	3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4	Indoor
1972–1975	Not Held
1976	Jimmy Connors	Roscoe Tanner	3–6, 7–6, 6–4	Indoor
1977	Björn Borg	John Lloyd	6–4, 6–4, 6–3	Indoor
1978	John McEnroe	Tim Gullikson	6–7, 6–4, 7–6, 6–2	Indoor
1979	John McEnroe	Harold Solomon	6–3, 6–4, 7–5	Indoor
1980	John McEnroe	Gene Mayer	6–4, 6–3, 6–3	Indoor
1981	Jimmy Connors	John McEnroe	3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2	Indoor
1982	John McEnroe	Brian Gottfried	6–3, 6–2, 6–4	Indoor
1983	John McEnroe	Jimmy Connors	7–5, 6–1, 6–4	Indoor
1984	Ivan Lendl	Andrés Gómez	7–6, 6–2, 6–1	Indoor
1985	Ivan Lendl	Boris Becker	6–7, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4	Indoor
1986	Yannick Noah	Jonas Svensson	6–2, 6–3, 6–7, 4–6, 7–5	Indoor
1987	Ivan Lendl	Anders Järryd	6–3, 6–2, 7–5	Indoor
1988	Jakob Hlasek	Jonas Svensson	6–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–0, 7–5	Indoor
1989	Michael Chang	Guy Forget	6–2, 6–1, 6–1	Indoor
1990	Jakob Hlasek	Michael Chang	7–6, 6–3	Indoor

Notes:

^r1 For 1934, the tournament was played under Round Robin format with Vines 5-0 and Nüsslein 4-1 as final standings.

^r1 For 1939, the tournament was played under Round Robin format with Budge 3-0 and Nüsslein, Tilden and Vines as 1-2 as final standings.

See also

• Wembley Professional Championships Draws - Professional Era (1934–1967)
• French Pro Championship
• U.S. Pro Tennis Championships

References

1. Ray Bowers (1 March 2003). "Wembley and Paris". Forgotten Victories: The Early Pro Tennis Wars. The Tennis Server. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
2. Marianne Bevis (12 January 2012). "Rod Laver: The modest champion at the heart of the Australian Open". Tennis: Australian Open. The Sport Review. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
3. "1970: ATP World Tour". Results Archive. ATP World Tour. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
4. "Indoor Lawn Tennis at Wembley". The Indian Express. Mar 19, 1949.