Wembley Championship

The Wembley Championship was a tennis event 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 five singles titles is the record for this event.

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

Prior to the open era, the Wembley Championship was the most prestigious professional tennis competition, after the United States Professional Championship and French Professional Championship. Until 1967, the Wembley Championship was considered the professional world championship. From 1970 until 1983 it was a major ranking tournament of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour as part of the Grand Prix Championship Series.

Contents

Name

The Wembley championship was officially titled the Wembley Professional Championships until 1950. The tournament was called the London Indoor Professional Championships from 1951 through 1967. In 1968, it was called the Kramer Tournament of Champions. From 1969 through 1971, the tournament merged with and was called the British Covered Court Championships. Finally, it was called the Benson & Hedges Championships beginning in 1976.

Champions

Year Champion Runner-up Score Surface
Professional Era
1934 Ellsworth Vines Hans Nüsslein RR formatr1 Indoor
1935 Ellsworth Vines Bill Tilden 6-1, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3 Indoor
1936a 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
1938a Hans Nüsslein Bill Tilden 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Indoor
1939 Don Budge Hans Nüsslein RR formatr2 Indoor
1940–1948 Not Held
1949 Jack Kramer Bobby Riggs 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Indoor
1950 Pancho Gonzalez Welby Van Horn 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 Indoor
1951 Pancho Gonzalez Pancho Segura 6-2, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 Indoor
1952 Pancho Gonzalez Jack Kramer 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 Indoor
1953 Frank Sedgman Pancho Gonzalez 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 Indoor
1954–1955 Not Held
1956 Pancho Gonzalez 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 Andres 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:

a The status of the Wembley Championships of 1936 and 1938 is unclear. Two of the three major sources for the professional championships list the results as shown above. Ray Bowers' History of professional tennis says that neither of these tournaments ever occurred and offers substantiating evidence for his assertion. The Wembley event was usually reported in the British press but there is no mention of an event taking place in either of those two years. It may just have been a single match between Nusslein and Tilden that Joe McCauley classified as the Wembley tournament.

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

References

  1. ^ Ray Bowers (1 March 2003). "Wembley and Paris". Forgotten Victories: The Early Pro Tennis Wars. The Tennis Server. http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_03_03_01.html. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 
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