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Stage Three - The Modern Game | |||
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 Arthur Ashe Wins U.S. Open, 1968  Stan Smith  Chris Evert  Martina Navratilova  Steffi Graf |
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1968Arthur Ashe wins
the US Open as an amateur and becomes the first black man
to win a Grand Slam singles title. |
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1969Rod Laver wins
his second Grand Slam, becoming the only person in
history to accomplish this feat. |
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1970'sCorporate
sponsorship and television coverage of events increase,
ensuring that there would be more and more prize money
available each year. |
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1970Inaugural
Virginia Slims Tournament is held. Jack Kramer starts the "Grand Prix" which awards points based on how players fared in various tournaments. At the end of the year, prize money was awarded to those with the most points. Stan Smith wins $15,000 the first year of Kramer's Grand Prix. Margaret Smith-Court becomes the second woman to win the Grand Slam. In her career, Smith-Court would win 24 Grand Slam singles titles, of a record 62 total Grand Slam titles. |
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1972Professional
players form the Association of Tennis Professionals
(ATP) and name Jack Kramer Executive Director. Jimmy
Connors refuses to join. |
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1973Wimbledon is
boycotted. Bobby Riggs loses to Billie Jean King in the famous "Battle of the Sexes" |
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1974Jimmy Connors
compiles a 99-4 record. Winning the US, Australian Open
and Wimbledon, he is denied a chance to win the Grand
Slam when the ATP bans him from the French Open for
playing on the World Team Tennis Tour. Chris Evert is ranked the number 1 American for the first of 5 consecutive years. Over her professional career, Evert would compile a win-loss record of 1309-146, and be the first woman to earn $1 million in her career. |
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1976Howard Head
introduces the Prince racquet, made of graphite and
fiberglass with an oversized head. |
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1979Both Bjorn Borg
and John McEnroe each earn over $1 million in a single
year - the first time any player has done so. |
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1980Bjorn Borg wins
his 5th consecutive Wimbledon. |
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1981Bjorn Borg wins
his 6th French Open, giving him his 11th title in a Grand
Slam event. |
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1988Steffi Graf wins
the Grand Slam, making her the 6th winner (5th person),
and most recent. She also won the Gold medal in women's
tennis at the Seoul Olympics in this year. |
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1990John McEnroe,
famous for his on-court outbursts, is disqualified from
Australian Open. |
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1994Martina
Navratilova retires. During her stellar career, she set
records for most singles titles (167), most matches won
(1438) and most Wimbledon titles (9). |
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1996After being
ranked #1 for the 332nd week in her career, Steffi Graf
passes Martina Navratilova as the record holder of most
weeks with that ranking. To date, she has been ranked #1
in 377 weeks. |
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May, 1998Martina Hingis
enters the French open trying for the 2nd leg in a Grand
Slam attempt, having missed it in 1997 when she lost only
the French Open. |
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Back
to Stage Two |
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| Stage One | Stage Two | Stage
Three History & Glossary |
