Francais | English | Espanõl

World No. 1 Tennis Player Pre-ATP Rankings

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from World No. 1 Tennis Player)
Jump to: navigation, search

See also: List of ATP number 1 ranked players for somewhat different rankings for 1973 through 2006

World No. 1 Tennis Player Pre-ATP Rankings is a year-by-year listing of both the male tennis player who, at the end of a full year of play, has generally been considered to be the best overall player for the entire year, and of the runner-up for that year.

Contents

[edit] Unofficial rankings before 1973

In the days before the Open era of tennis arrived in 1968, rankings for amateur players were generally only compiled for a full year of play and the professional players had no rankings at all, except for seedings in individual tournaments. Even for the amateurs, however, there was no single official overall ranking that encompassed the entire world; rankings were done by the national tennis association of each individual country. It was only with the introduction of computerized rankings in the Open era that rankings became common on a more frequent basis than at the end of the year.

It is also important to understand that until the computer-generated rankings began in 1973 all previous rankings going back to 1913 had been to at least some degree subjective. Even the "authoritative" end-of-the-year amateur rankings issued by such groups as the United States Lawn Tennis Association were based on judgments made by men and women and not on mathematical formulas assigning points for wins or losses.

In 1938, for instance, when Don Budge won the amateur Grand Slam, it was easy to conclude that Budge was not only the No. 1 American player but also the No. 1 world amateur player. It is far more difficult, however, to decide who was the best overall player, amateur or professional, for that year, since both Ellsworth Vines and Fred Perry, now professionals, were still at the top of their form. Two different sources, however, who have carefully studied the performances of the players for that year, both concluded that Budge was the best overall player, with Vines a close second. For the previous year, 1937, one of these same sources concluded that all three players, Perry, Vines, and Budge, deserved to be called the co-No. 1 players in the world.

Another example is 1947. Bobby Riggs, a professional, had clearly established himself as the best player in the world the year before. In 1947 he was still the best professional player but Jack Kramer had a sensational amateur year. The following year, 1948, Kramer turned professional and in a long series of matches against Riggs defeated him decisively. It is feasible to argue, therefore, that Riggs and Kramer were the co-No. 1s for 1947.

1948 was the last year in which an amateur player turned professional and then went on to beat the defending professional champion. It is therefore generally acknowledged that the world's best player in every year since 1948 has always been the best professional player for any given year.

Even here, however, some years present difficulties. Jack Kramer was perhaps the world's best player in 1950 and 1951 when he crushed first Pancho Gonzales and then Pancho Segura in head-to-head tours — but was dominated in tournaments by the same players. In 1952 there was no long, headline tour. Instead, there were short tours between different players and a number of professional tournaments, with the result that none of the professionals played extensively. The short-lived Professional Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA) published an end-of-the list in which Segura was ranked the best player in the world, with Gonzales second. During the course of the year, however, Gonzales had defeated Segura 4 matches to 1. Segura had also won a number of important tournaments, so it is probable that Segura and Gonzales were co-No. 1 for the year.

The following year, 1953, Kramer narrowly defeated the top amateur-turned-professional, Frank Sedgman, in their tour during the first half of the year and so reestablished himself as No. 1, at least for that period; but then, because of injuries, he did not play the second half of the year. As a result, Kramer was now in semi-retirement and in 1954 there were a number of round-robins as well as shorter tours, from which it is clear from all the evidence that Gonzales had now established himself as the best player in the world, the first year in an unequaled run of 8 consecutive years as the World No. 1. But, given the spotty and often contradictory record-keeping of the professional results ever since 1926, it is frequently difficult to make a clear, objective judgment as to who was the best player in any number of years.

[edit] Professional tennis in Europe before 1926

Most sources consider 1926, the year of the first professional tours of head-to-head matches, to be the true beginning of professional tennis. Previous to that date there were numerous teaching professionals, that is, players who gave lessons for money at private clubs and public parks. Because they accepted money in return for their services, they were not allowed to participate in any of the amateur tournaments. They did, however, over the years, create a number of relatively small professional tournaments for players such as themselves, primarily in Europe. Karel Koželuh and Albert Burke were probably the most notable, as well as the best, of these players. The Bristol Cup, held at Beaulieu or at Cannes on the French Riviera and won 7 consecutive times by Koželuh, was "the world's only significant pro tennis tournament." <ref>History of the Pro Tennis Wars, Chapter II, by Ray Bowers, http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_01_03_01.html</ref> Koželuh went on to become one of the very best of the touring professionals in the 1930s, so it is easy to imagine that he, Burke, and probably others of these forgotten teaching professionals may well have been among the top 10 players, amateur and professional, in any given years before 1928, which is the first year for which any of the sources cited here give a ranking for all the top players of that year. All top 10 rankings for the years before 1928, therefore, are for amateurs only.

[edit] Sources of rankings and other information

Other years dating back to 1913 also present difficulties and ambiguities. The rankings below, however, all come from various sources that are as authoritative as can be found. There are twelve sources:

  • 1.) The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (1981) of the United States Tennis Association has annual rankings for the top 10 players as compiled every year from 1914 through 1980. These rankings were made annually by various tennis experts at a London newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, Wallis Myers (1913-1938), John Olliff (1939-1951), and Lance Tingay (1952-1967). Unfortunately, these rankings included only amateur players. Beginning with the 20's, some of the best players in the world were professionals. Once they became professionals, as Bill Tilden did in 1931, they were not longer included in these annual lists.
  • 2.) History of the Pro Tennis Wars, by Ray Bowers, is a Web site <ref>History of the Pro Tennis Wars, Chapter I, by Ray Bowers, http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_99_10_31.html</ref> associated with the Tennis Server site. In eleven chapters, Bowers gives a very detailed account of the first sixteen years of the professional tennis tours, from a modest beginning in 1926 with Suzanne Lenglen and Vincent Richards as the main attractions, on through 1941. He also gives detailed results of some of the tournaments played by professionals in addition to the main head-to-head tours. In his summing-up for each year since 1928, he gives his rankings for the best players of that year, combining both amateurs and professionals, with the number of players ranked varying from year to year. In all cases prior to 1940, his rankings coincide with those of the Daily Telegraph as far as amateurs are concerned.
  • 3.) Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia (2003), by Bud Collins. This massive work has year-by-year chapters in which Collins gives a brief summation of the Pro Tour results, often with personal comments about the players. It also has somewhat more complete rankings from the early years of the Daily Telegraph. The combined amateur-professional rankings for 1968 through 1972 are those of Collins himself. Beginning with 1973, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) began issuing computer-generated weekly rankings. Total Tennis shows the top 10 players in these rankings for the last week of every calendar year through 2002, and the top 2 player are often included here.
  • 4.) The History of Professional Tennis (2003) by Joe McCauley. This book, published in England, is a year-by-year account of the professional tours and tournaments between 1926 and 1968, then has 80 additional pages of year-by-year results of as many tournaments, tours, and head-to-head matches as the author, a long-time writer for World Tennis, could find.
  • 5.) PLTA. The Professional Lawn Tennis Association was a group of professional players in the late 1940s and early 1950s who, for several years, issued their own official rankings of the professional players at the end of each year; it was also apparently called the PPA, or Professional Players Association in at least 1946.
  • 6.) The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), by Jack Kramer. Kramer's autobiography has information about the 1954 professional tour that is somewhat different from the other sources but that must be considered authoritative in that Kramer himself was the tour promoter that year.
  • 8.) Tennis Is My Racket (1949), by Bobby Riggs. Riggs's autobiography has information about the 1946 professional tour that is slightly different from the other sources. He also writes at length about his 1948 tour with Jack Kramer but says nothing about his playing record in 1947, about which there is much conflicting information.
  • 9.) The Life & Times of Bobby Riggs, The Last Sure Thing (2003) by Tom LeCompte. A biography published after Riggs's death that jibes with Riggs's own information for 1946 but that is at odds with other sources about Riggs's record in 1947.
  • 10.) Vainqueurs 1946-2003, (2003) by Michel Sutter (Winners 1946-2003 in English). Apparently based mostly on information drawn from the French sports magazine L'Équipe, this is an up-dated edition of his earlier book Vainqueurs 1946-1991. Both books list the winners of many professional tournaments and matches for the years shown in their titles but the earlier book also listed the losing finalists, the score and the exact date as well as some commentary, in French and in English, by the author for each individual year.
  • 11.) Histoiredutennis.com (History of tennis) is a French Website that has much interesting information, particularly at its extended chapters with the history of tennis at http://bmarcore.club.fr/tennis/menu-tennis.html. Some of its information about the professional tour in 1954, however, seems to conflict with other sources. The 1954 information may actually be for 1953.
  • 12.) DER GRÖSSTE MEISTER Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall, (1999) by Robert Geist. A detailed account of Rosewall's career with many statistics and in particular his annual rankings including during his pro career.

However there are sometimes contradictions between all these sources.

[edit] The major professional tournaments before 1968

The professional circuit being (much) less popular than the traditional amateur circuit before 1968, any pro tournament could be cancelled at any time due to poor attendances. Therefore there was no real tradition in the pro circuit.

Now there is a real tradition prevailing : since 1983, the events hierarchy has been very clear : 1) Wimbledon, 2) the US Open and Roland Garros, 4) the Australian Open and far behind 5) the Masters Cup, 6) the Davis Cup.

But before 1968 the events hierarchy changed each year : in 1934 the US Pro was a high-class tournament with all the best pro players and in 1936 this same tournament was just a meeting between pro teachers without any leading pro players.

Consequently for a given year a pro tournament was a major one when it attracted the best pro players and then another year this same tournament could be a second-rank tournament because few or no leading players came.

Before the open era in addition to numerous small tournaments and head-to-head tours between the leading professionals, there were some major tournaments which stood out at different periods :

a) Some survived sporadically because of financial collapses and other temporarily stood out when other great tournaments weren't held :

  • the Bristol Cup (held at Cannes or at Beaulieu) in the twenties
  • the Queen's Club Pro (just in 1928)
  • the Southport tournament called the International Pro Championship of Britain in the thirties
  • the World Pro Championships in Berlin in the thirties
  • the U.S Pro hardcourt in LA in 1945 (which was the only significant pro tournament of the last year of World War II)
  • Philadelphia 1950-1952
  • the Tournament of Champions held in Los Angeles in 1956 and at Forest Hills next years (when it didn't merge with the U.S. Pro)
  • some Masters Pro Round Robin in Los Angeles (1957, 1958)
  • the Australian Pro (there were just three editions in 1954, 1957 and 1958)
  • Madison Square Garden Pro (1966, 1967)
  • Wimbledon Pro (1967)
  • ...and some other Australian or South African tournaments.

b) there were also some team events modeled on Davis Cup as the Bonnardel Cup in the thirties and the Kramer Cup (1961-1963)

c) Nevertheless three tournaments survived more or less with sometimes all the cream of the leading players, and other times with very depleted fields, and therefore these tournaments held a certain tradition. They were called "championship tournaments". The most prestigious of the three was generally the London Indoor Professional Championship. Played between 1934 and 1972, at Wembley in England, it was unofficially considered the world's championship. The oldest of the three was the United States Professional Championship, played between 1927 and 1999. Between 1954 and 1962 it was played indoors in Cleveland and was called the World Professional Championships. The third major tournament was the French Professional Championship, played between 1934 (and perhaps before but the data are unclear) and 1968, generally at Roland Garros. The British and American championships continued into the Open era but devolved to the status of minor tournaments. The winner and runner-up in each of these tournaments will be shown for the years in which they were played.

Note: The Wembley Pro tournament has never been a British Pro as written in many books. There have been a) the International Pro Championship of Britain played at Southport in the thirties (one of the major tournaments of the era as indicated above) and b) played by domestic players the Pro Championships of Britain, held annually at, generally, Eastbourne. Eastbourne also held the Slazenger Pro tournament

Thus for a given year these three championships could be the greatest events as in 1964 or could not as in 1959 when the greatest tournaments were probably the Forest Hills Pro, the Masters Pro in Los Angeles and almost all the Australian tournaments ahead of Wembley Pro, the French Pro or the U.S. Pro (held at Cleveland that year).

[edit] Discrepancies in source material

A good example of the occasional lack of authoritative material about the early years of the professional players is the somewhat surprising fact that the very existence of the 1936 and 1938 Wembley tournament is in question. Two sources, Collins and McCauley, give results for the Wembley tournament in each year. Bowers, however, is adamant that neither took place and offers some evidence to support his view.

Another example is 1947. Collins says that Riggs beat Budge in a tour; McCauley says that there was no long tour, only a short one between Riggs and Frank Kovacs. Tom LeCompte says that there was a small tour with Riggs overcoming Budge 12-6 followed by the short Riggs-Kovacs tour (4-3, but 11-10 according to McCauley).

Other examples : the French Pro until 1933. McCauley says that the first year of the French Pro is unknown but begins his list in 1930 whereas Ray Bowers doesn't talk about any French Pro before 1934 (even in 1934 he doesn't use the expression "French Professional Championships" but writes a three-day tournament at (Roland) Garros, September 21-23). For example in 1933, the supposed Tilden-Cochet final (6-2 6-4 6-2) listed by McCauley was just according to Bowers a singles match (with a slightly different score 6-3 6-4 6-2) of a USA-France meeting (in the Davis Cup format) at Roland Garros (where Cochet defeated Bruce Barnes, Tilden beat Plaa and Cochet and Barnes overcame Plaa and the US won the doubles).

[edit] Most Years as No.1 or Co-No. 1 (earliest first for those with identical numbers; Co-No. 1 year in Boldface):

[edit] The World No. 1 and No. 2 from 1913

Before 1973 there was no computer rankings but only journalists or officials (on their personal behalf) or promoters or players themselves who listed their own annual rankings.

In 1973 the ATP listed his own rankings every fortnight and some years later (probably in 1977) every week but they had many imperfections because in the seventies and the eighties they didn’t take into account such events as the Davis Cup, the WCT Finals and the Masters (later called the Singles Championship and in the 2000’s the Masters Cup) and not enough points were (and still are) allotted to the Grand Slam tournaments. Since there have been improvements (but not sufficiently) because now the Masters Cup give ATP points. (See : List of ATP number 1 ranked players).

Therefore other rankings proposed by tennis experts or by the players themselves could be more accurate : From 1973 to 2006 this list sometimes differs from the ATP list because it shows journalists (or even players) rankings and not computer rankings. In particular Connors has been ranked #1, at the end of the year, from 1974 to 1978 by the ATP but the majority disagreed the computer rankings : for instance in 1975 all the journalists (among them John Barrett, Bud Collins, Barry Lorge, Judith Elian) ranked Arthur Ashe as the number 1 in the world while his ATP ranking was only 4th; in 1977, except in particular World Tennis (US) and Michel Sutter, almost everyone agreed that Borg was the best; and in 1978 everyone and in particular the ITF recognized that the Swede was the World Champion. In 1982 and in 1989 respectively Connors and Becker both winners of Wimbledon and the US Open were considered as World Champions even though the ATP ranked respectively McEnroe and Lendl as number 1. Since the mid-90s the ATP rankings had been more or less accepted by many as the official rankings (but in 1999 many considered Sampras as the second best player in the world while the ATP ranked Kafelnikov 2nd). Finally since 1978 the ITF (represented at the beginning by Sedgman, Hoad and Trabert) has designated his World Champion.

A. = Amateur P. = Professional

Year Number 1 Player Runner-up Player Source of Ranking
1913 Tony Wilding A. (NZ) Norman Brookes A. - Maurice McLoughlin A. A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Wilding, Brookes & McLoughlin tied for 2nd, Jim Cecil Parke, R. Norris Williams, Percy Dixon, Otto Froitzheim, Stanley Doust, André Gobert, Max Décugis.
1914 Maurice McLoughlin A. (USA) Norman Brookes A. - Tony Wilding A. A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were McLoughlin, Brookes & Wilding tied for 2nd, Froitzheim, Williams, Parke, Arthur Lowe, F. Gordon Lowe, Heinrich Kleinschroth, Décugis.
1915-1918 World War I, no rankings
1919 Gerald Patterson A. (Aus.) - Bill Johnston A. (USA) both ranked equally A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Patterson & Johnston tied for 1st, Gobert, Bill Tilden, Brookes, Algernon Kingscote, Williams, Percival Davson, Willis Davis, William Laurentz.
1920 Bill Tilden A. (USA) Bill Johnston A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston, Kingscote, Parke, Gobert, Brookes, Williams, Laurentz, Zenzo Shimidzu, Patterson.
1921 Bill Tilden A. (USA) Bill Johnston A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston, Vinnie Richards, Shimidzu, Patterson, James Anderson, Brian Norton, Manual Alonso, Williams, Gobert.
1922 Bill Tilden A. (USA) Bill Johnston A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston, Patterson, Richards, Anderson, Henri Cochet, Pat O'Hara Wood, Williams, Kingscote, Gobert.
1923 Bill Tilden A. (USA) Bill Johnston A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston, Anderson, Williams, Frank Hunter, Richards, Norton, Alonso, Jean Washer, Cochet.
1924 Bill Tilden A. (USA) Vinnie Richards A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Richards, Anderson, Johnston, René Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Howard Kinsey, Patterson, Cochet, Alonso.
1925 Bill Tilden A. (USA) Bill Johnston A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Tilden, Johnston, Richards, Lacoste, Williams, Borotra, Patterson, Alonso, Norton, Takeichi Harada.
1926 René Lacoste A. (Fr.) Jean Borotra A. (Fr.) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; the top 10 amateurs rankings were Lacoste, Borotra, Cochet, Johnston, Tilden, Richards, Harada, Alonso, Kinsey, Jacques Brugnon; the promoter Charles C. Pyle signed Richards, Harvey Snodgrass, Kinsey, and Paul Féret for the first professional tour, which toured the United States and Canada in the fall of 1926; the headliner, however, was the French female player Suzanne Lenglen (against Mary Kendall Browne) and there are only scattered records of the men's matches. Karel Koželuh won the only significant pro tournament of the time : the Bristol Cup at Cannes.
1927 René Lacoste A. (Fr.) Bill Tilden A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; the top 10 amateur rankings were Lacoste, Tilden, Cochet, Borotra, Alonso, Frank Hunter, George Lott, John Hennessey, Brugnon, and Jan Koželuh; Richards beat Kinsey in the first U.S. Pro; Bowers ranks Karel Koželuh, the older brother of Jan Koželuh, and Richards as being tied for #1 among the few professional players, but does not make a joint amateur-professional ranking.
1928 Henri Cochet A. (Fr.) René Lacoste A. (Fr.) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Cochet won the French and U.S. Championships, Lacoste won Wimbledon, Borotra won the Aust. Championships; Koželuh, the winner of the Bristol Cup at Beaulieu, def. Richards 15 matches to 5 in a North American head-to-head tour; Richards beat Koželuh in the U.S. Pro; Robert Ramillon beat Edmund Burke at the Queen's Club Pro; Bowers ranks the top eight, in merging his pro list into Myers's amateur list, as being Cochet, Lacoste, Tilden, Koželuh, Richards, Hunter, Borotra, and George Lott, with Koželuh and Richards being the only professionals.
1929 Henri Cochet A. (Fr.) René Lacoste A. (Fr.) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Lacoste won the French Championships, Tilden won the U.S. Championships, Cochet won Wimbledon, John Colin Gregory won the Aust. Championships; Koželuh beat Richards in the U.S. Pro and Albert Burke at the Bristol Cup at Beaulieu; Koželuh apparently beat Richards 5 matches to 2 in the course of the year; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Cochet, Lacoste, Borotra, Tilden, Karel Koželuh, Hunter, Lott, and Richards, with Koželuh and Richards being the only professionals.
1930 Henri Cochet A. (Fr.) Bill Tilden A. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Cochet won the French Championships, John Doeg won the U.S. Championships, Tilden won Wimbledon, Edgar Moon won the Aust. Championships; Koželuh beat Roman Najuch at Beaulieu; Richards beat Koželuh in the U.S. Pro; Koželuh perhaps beat Albert Burke in the first Fr. Pro (probably not held because Bowers didn't account it); Koželuh apparently beat Richards 4 matches to 2 in the course of the year; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Cochet, Tilden, Richards, Karel Koželuh, Borotra, Doeg, Frank Shields, and Wilmer Allison, with Koželuh and Richards being the only professionals. In October Richards announced his retirement.
1931 Bill Tilden P. (USA) Henri Cochet A. (Fr.) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; McCauley; Borotra won the French Championships, Ellsworth Vines won the U.S. Championships, Sidney Wood won Wimbledon, Jack Crawford won the Aust. Championships; Tilden, aged 38, turned professional and, in a head-to-head tour, def. Koželuh either 63 matches to 13 (McCauley) or 50 to 17 according to Tilden himself in the North American part of the tour (see Bowers) but the two players also competed in the first European tour with Martin Plaa, Albert Burke, Frank Hunter and Hans Nüsslein : many results are unknown nevertheless Tilden lost only one match against all these opponents (Koželuh at Amsterdam); Tilden also def. Richards, who had abandoned his retirement, either 12-1 over the year (McCauley) or 10 to 0 (Bowers); Tilden beat Richards in the U.S. Pro; Martin Plaa perhaps beat Robert Ramillon in the Fr. Pro(probably not held because Bowers didn't account it); Koželuh def. Albert Burke at Beaulieu; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Tilden, Cochet, Bunny Austin, Vines, Fred Perry, Karel Koželuh, Richards, and Shields, with Tilden, Koželuh, and Richards being the only professionals; this was the first year a professional was ranked either No. 1 or No. 2.
1932 Ellsworth Vines A. (USA) Bill Tilden P. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Bowers; Collins; McCauley; Vines, a 20-year-old, won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships; Cochet won the French Championships, Crawford won the Aust. Championships; in the pros Tilden beat Vinnie Richards 12-1 and, according to Collins, was 60-40 against the young German Hans Nüsslein; McCauley mistakenly says Tilden and Nüsslein played about 150 or 160 matches, with Tilden winning "about two-thirds" of them; <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 23</ref> Koželuh beat Nüsslein in the U.S. Pro and beat Plaa at Beaulieu; Bowers, however, writes that a "tally" made just before their first encounter in 1934 showed that Tilden and Nüsslein had played 163 times to that point (so from their first meeting in 1931 to 1933 included), with Tilden winning 116 matches to 47, so the Collins figure is undoubtedly correct for 1932; Ramillon perhaps beat Plaa in the Fr. Pro, although Bowers is unable to account for this tournament; Plaa won the World Pro Championship tournament in Berlin over Tilden; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Vines, Tilden, Cochet, Karel Koželuh, Borotra, Plaa, Allison, and Nüsslein, with Tilden, Koželuh, Plaa, and Nüsslein being professionals.
1933 Jack Crawford A. (Aus.) Fred Perry A. (GB) Bowers; A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Collins; McCauley; Crawford had a sensational amateur year, winning 13 consecutive tournaments, including the first 3 of the Grand Slams, the Aust. Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon, finally losing in 5 sets to Perry in the 4th, the U.S. Championships ; the professional picture was murky: Cochet, aged 31, turned pro; neither Tilden, aged 40, Koželuh, 38, nor the younger Nüsslein, Cochet, Richards, or Plaa was able to establish any clear superiority; Richards beat Frank Hunter in the depleted U.S. Pro; Nüsslein won the World Pro Championship tournament in Berlin by far the year's most significant pro tournament; data from more than half of the Tilden-Nüsslein tour in America (January-early May) indicates that Tilden won 2/3 of their meetings; Vines ranked the top pros as being Tilden, Cochet, Koželuh, Richards; Albert Burke, however, ranked them as being Nüsslein, Tilden, Koželuh, and Plaa; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Crawford, Perry, Nüsslein, Tilden, Karel Koželuh, Jiro Satoh, Austin, and Vines, with Nüsslein, Tilden, and Koželuh being the only professionals.
1934 Fred Perry A. (GB) Ellsworth Vines P. (USA) Bowers; A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Collins; McCauley; Perry had a sensational amateur year winning the Aust. Championships, Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, Gottfried von Cramm won the French Championships; Vines, aged 22, turned pro; in their initial head-to-head tour, Vines def. Tilden 11 matches to 9; in subsequent tours Tilden beat Plaa 10-0 and Cochet 8-2 and Vines beat Cochet 10-0 and Plaa 8-2; Bowers says that by the end of May, having played somewhat more than 50 matches, Vines led Tilden by 19 wins; Nüsslein beat Koželuh in the U.S. Pro; Vines beat Nüsslein in the first Wembley Pro and in the Paris Indoor (not to be confused with the French Pro); Tilden beat Plaa in the Fr. Pro; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Perry, Vines, Crawford, von Cramm, Nüsslein, Tilden, Austin, and Allison, with Vines, Nüsslein, and Tilden being the only professionals.
1935 Fred Perry A. (GB) - Ellsworth Vines P. (USA) both ranked equally Bowers; McCauley; A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Crawford won the Aust. Championships, Allison won the U.S. Championships, Perry won Wimbledon and the French Championships; Vines beat Tilden in the Wembley Pro and in the Southport Pro; Vines beat Nüsslein in the Fr. Pro; Tilden beat Koželuh in the U.S. Pro; Vines beat Les Stoefen 25-1 in a head-to-head tour while Tilden was beating George Lott 20-4 with one tie; after Stoefen fell ill, Vines beat Nüsslein in another tour about three-quarters of the time; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Perry and Vines tied for #1, then Crawford, von Cramm, Tilden, Nüsslein, Allison, and Austin, with Vines, Tilden, and Nüsslein, being the only professionals; in April the French amateur tennis association ranked the top six as being identical to Bowers's except that Vines was ahead of Perry.
1936 Fred Perry A. (GB) Ellsworth Vines P. (USA) Bowers; McCauley; A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; Adrian Quist won the Aust. Championships, von Cramm won the French Championships, Perry won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships; in the American tour Vines easily defeated Les Stoefen (finals standings are unknown but on March 29, Vines led 33-5) and in the Asian tour Vines led Tilden 8-1 at the end of the Japanese part of the tour); Joe Whalen beat Charles Wood in a depleted U.S. Pro; Cochet defeated Robert Ramillon in the French Pro without the three top pro players (Vines, Nüsslein, Tilden); Nüsslein won Southport Pro over Cochet; Vines beat Tilden in the Wembley Pro according to McCauley, but Bowers is categorical that the Wembley tournament did not take place that year, cancelled because Vines did not come from California; Bowers also states that a) Vines and Nüsslein never met between the French Pro in 1935 and the Wembley Pro in 1939 and b) Vines didn't enter any tournament from 1936 to 1938 included; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Perry, Vines, von Cramm, Nüsslein, Don Budge, Tilden, Quist, and Cochet, with Vines, Nüsslein, Tilden, and Cochet being the only professionals; Bowers also writes that three evaluators, L'Auto, Budge and Tilden ranked Vines ahead Perry for the year.
1937 Fred Perry P. - Ellsworth Vines P. - Don Budge A. (USA) all 3 ranked equally Bowers; A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; McCauley; Henner Henkel won the French Championships, Budge won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, Vivian McGrath won the Aust. Championships; Vines def. Perry in the North American head-to-head tour 32-29 while Perry won a short British Isles tour 6-3; Perry def. Tilden 4-3 in America; Vines and Perry didn't enter any tournament; Koželuh beat Bruce Barnes in a depleted U.S. Pro (also, that year, called the U.S. Open); in the absence of Vines and Perry Nüsslein swept all the big tournaments beating Tilden in the Wembley Pro and in the World 's Pro Indoors at Paris and also winning the French Pro over Cochet; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Perry, Vines, and Budge tied for #1, with von Cramm and Nüsslein being tied for #4, then Henkel, Austin, and Tilden, with Perry, Vines, Nüsslein, and Tilden being the only professionals.
1938 Don Budge A. (USA) Ellsworth Vines P. (USA) A. Wallis Myers of London's The Daily Telegraph; McCauley; Bowers; Budge had a sensational amateur year, winning all 4 of the Grand Slams; in the pros, Vines def. Perry 49-35 (or 48-35); the next year, as a pro, Budge narrowly defeated Vines, indicating that even as an amateur he might have been the World No. 1 for 1938; Vines still didn't enter any tournament as probably in 1936 and surely in 1937; Perry played his first (and single in 1938) pro tournament at the U.S. Pro beating Barnes; Nüsslein beat Tilden in the Wembley Pro; Bowers, however, in Chapter IX of his history, says there was no tournament at Wembley; Nüsslein beat Tilden in the Fr. Pro and at Southport Pro; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Budge, Vines, Perry and Nüsslein tied for #3, Austin, John Bromwich, Bobby Riggs, and Tilden, with Vines, Perry, Nüsslein, and Tilden being the only professionals.
1939 Don Budge P. (USA) Ellsworth Vines P. (USA) John Olliff of London's The Daily Telegraph; McCauley; Bowers; Don McNeill won the French Championships, Riggs won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, John Bromwich won the Aust. Championships; Budge def. Vines 22-17 in the North American tour and also def. Perry 28-8; Vines beat Perry in the U.S. Pro; Budge beat Vines in the Fr. Pro and beat Nüsslein, Vines, and Tilden in the Wembley Pro; Nüsslein def. Tilden at Southport; Budge, Vines, Tilden, and Stoefen competed in a spring-summer European tour that was mainly a succession of 4-man tournaments; Budge was the winner, in particular beating Vines 15-5; Bowers ranks the top eight, both amateur and pro, as being Budge, Vines, Nüsslein, Perry, Riggs, Bromwich, Quist, and Tilden, with Budge, Vines, Nüsslein, Perry, and Tilden being professionals, the first time that 5 of the top 8 were pros.
1940 Don Budge P. (USA) Fred Perry P. (GBR) Collins; McCauley; Bowers; The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis; Quist won the Aust. Championships; McNeill won the U.S. Championships; the French Championships and Wimbledon were not played because of World War II; Budge beat Perry in the U.S. Pro; there were no more world rankings by the Telegraph but Bowers ranks the top 4 as being Budge and Perry, followed by the American amateurs McNeill and Riggs, then goes on to say that in spite of uncertainty because of the war the next four are probably the 4 top American amateurs as shown in the Official Encyclopedia, Frank Kovacs, Joe Hunt, Frank Parker, and Jack Kramer; however, he also says that the Australians Bromwich and Quist could plausibly be included in the top 8.
1941 Perry P. (USA) — Bobby Riggs A. (USA) both ranked equally Collins; McCauley; Bowers; The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis; Riggs won the U.S. Championships; the Aust. Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon were not played because of World War II; Both Collins and McCauley say that Budge def. Tilden 51-7 in their head-to-head tour, but Bowers says that by his count the outcome was most probably 46-7 plus one tie, with 49 matches being fully documented for a result of 43-5 plus 1 tie; Perry completely dominated Tilden in a summer tour; Perry won 5 pro tournaments out of 5 including the U.S. Pro over Dick Skeen; Skeen was runner-up to Perry in 4 tournaments; Budge entered 3 tournaments and lost all of them; there were no more world amateur rankings because of the war but Bowers ranks the top 6 as being amateur Riggs and pro Perry in a tie for first place with amateur Kovacs third, while amateur Parker and professional Skeen are tied for fourth; Budge is sixth.
1942 Don Budge P. (USA) Bobby Riggs P. (USA) Collins; McCauley; The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis; Ted Schroeder won the U.S. Championships; the Aust. Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon were not played because of World War II; Riggs and Kovacs turned pro; in round robin matches Budge was the winner, 52-18; Riggs was 36-36, Kovacs 25-26, Perry 23-30, Stoefen 2-28; Budge beat Riggs in U.S. Pro; because of the war the only significant amateur rankings were American: Schroeder was #1, followed by Parker, Gardnar Mulloy, Pancho Segura, Bill Talbert, Sidney Wood, Seymour Greenberg, George Richards, Vic Seixas, and Ladislav Hecht.
1943 Joe Hunt A. (USA) Jack Kramer A. (USA) McCauley; The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis; Joe Hunt won the U.S. Championships; the Aust. Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon were not played because of World War II; Barnes beat John Nogrady in U.S. Pro; the top 10 American amateur rankings were Hunt, Kramer, Segura, Talbert, Greenberg, Wood, Bob Falkenburg, Parker, James Brink, and Jack Tuero.
1944 Frank Parker A. (USA) Bill Talbert A. (USA) McCauley; The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis; Parker won the U.S. Championships; the Aust. Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon were not played because of World War II; the top 10 American amateur rankings were Parker, Talbert, Segura, Don McNeill, Greenberg, Falkenburg, Jack Jossi, Charles W. Oliver, Jack McManis, J. Gilbert Hall.
1945 Frank Parker A. (USA) Bill Talbert A. (USA) McCauley; The Official Encyclopedia of Tennis; Parker won the U.S. Championships; the Aust. Championships, the French Championships, and Wimbledon were not played because of World War II; Riggs beat Budge in the greatest pro tournament of the year, The US Pro harcourt Championships" held at the Los Angeles Tennis Club; Kovacs def. Welby Van Horn in San Francisco; Welby Van Horn beat Nogrady in a depleted U.S. Pro; in a U.S. Army Air Corps versus U.S. Navy series Riggs def. both Budge 3-2 and the amateur Parker 3-2 indicating that Riggs was probably the best player in the world in 1945 even though no world ranking was edited; the top 10 American amateur rankings were Parker, Talbert, Segura, Elwood Cooke, Wood, Mulloy, Shields, Harold Surface, Greenberg, and McManis.
1946 Bobby Riggs P. (USA) Don Budge P. (USA) Bud Collins; Joe McCauley; Bobby Riggs; Collins says Riggs def. Budge 18-16 on the head-to-head tour, <ref>Total Tennis, by Bud Collins, page 118</ref> while McCauley says Riggs def. Budge 23-21; <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 41</ref>; Riggs himself says twice in his autobiography that he def. Budge 24-22 <ref>Tennis Is My Racket, by Bobby Riggs, page 129 and page 171</ref>; Tilden organized a series of 31 tournaments: Riggs won 14 of them, Kovacs 7, Perry 4, Budge 3, Van Horn 2, and Skeen 1; Riggs beat Budge in U.S. Pro; the top 10 "Official PPA" rankings for the year were Riggs, Budge, Kovacs, Perry, Van Horn, Wayne Sabin, Carl Earn, Jossi, John Faunce, and Jack March <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 43</ref>; in the amateur circuit Kramer was undefeated in Davis Cup and won the U.S. Championships, in his book "The Game" page 50 he wrote "...I don't think I was mature enough to beat him (Budge) in '46." Kramer then thinks that Riggs and Budge were probably better than him in 1946.
1947 Bobby Riggs P. (USA) - Jack Kramer A. (USA) both ranked equally Joe McCauley; Bud Collins; Tilden was imprisoned for sexual offenses and his series of tournaments fell apart; Collins says that Riggs def. Budge 24-22 on a head-to-head tour, <ref>Total Tennis, by Bud Collins, page 122</ref>, but McCauley disputes that, saying that the only tour was a short USA Challenge Series between Riggs and Kovac that Riggs won 11 matches to 10, while Earn defeated March "easily" in preliminary matches; <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 192</ref>; perhaps Budge beat Riggs in Wembley Pro but McCauley didn't trace any tournament at Wembley but only tour matches; Kramer had a sensational amateur year, winning 8 of 9 tournaments and 48 of 49 matches (among them his two singles in the Challenge Round of the Davis Cup); <ref>Total Tennis, by Bud Collins, page 122</ref> Riggs beat Budge both in U.S. Pro and in U.S. Pro Indoor.
1948 Jack Kramer P. (USA) Bobby Riggs P. (USA) Collins; McCauley; Kramer def. Riggs 69-20 on the head-to-head tour after being led 8-5 and then having equalized at 14-14; in the preliminary matches Dinny Pails beat Pancho Segura 41-31 according to Kramer; <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 47</ref> Kramer beat Riggs in U.S. Pro.
1949 Jack Kramer P. (USA) Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Joe McCauley; Bud Collins; in the pro circuit Kramer was clearly the best winning Wembley Pro over Riggs and Scarborough Pro over Budge; Riggs def. Budge in U.S. Pro without Kramer and Segura; in the amateur circuit Ted Schroeder and Gonzales won together Davis Cup and shared the two greatest tournaments Wimbledon for the former and the U.S. Championships for the latter; then Gonzales played his first pro match against Kramer on October 25 on the head-to-head tour (ended on May 21, 1950) : at the end of November Kramer still led 22-4 proving he was undoubtedly the best player in the world.
1950 Jack Kramer P. (USA) - Pancho Segura P. (Ecuador-USA) both ranked equally Joe McCauley; PLTA; Kramer finished beating Gonzales on the head-to-head tour ended on May 21 (begun on October 25, 1949) 96-27 (97-26 according to Kramer himself); Segura beat Frank Parker "comfortably" in the head-to-head preliminary matches <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 195</ref>; Kramer dominated Segura in the next tour begun on October 28 (finished in March 1951) : mid-November Kramer led 10-4; in tournaments Segura beat Kramer in Paris and once again in the semifinals of the U.S. Pro before overcoming Kovacs in the final; Gonzales beat Kramer at Philadelphia Pro and Van Horn in a depleted Wembley Pro without Kramer and Segura; the PLTA released "Official" pro rankings for the year but McCauley writes: "It is difficult to understand how the following rankings were arrived at:" Segura, Kramer, Kovacs, Riggs, Van Horn, Parker, Carl Earn, Jimmy Evert, Nogrady, Joe Fishbach, Jack Rodgers, Joe Whalen, Al Doyle, Robert "Junior" Stubbs, Jimmy Adler, March, Faunce, Vivian McGrath, Pierre Pellizza, Bill Kenney <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 53-54</ref>. How indeed Gonzales can be omitted from this PLTA ranking ? McCauley thought Kramer was the number one because of Kramer's domination in tour whereas PLTA probably thought Segura was the best because he had dominated the tournaments circuit and among them the U.S. Pro.
1951 Jack Kramer P. (USA) Pancho Segura P. (Ecuador-USA) Joe McCauley; PLTA; Kramer finally def. Segura 64-28 (58-27 according to Kramer in his book, page 187) on the head-to-head tour finished in March (begun on October 28, 1950) <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 197</ref>; Kramer beat Segura and Gonzales in Philadelphia Pro; Segura beat Gonzales in U.S. Pro; Gonzales beat Segura in Wembley Pro; the PLTA "Official" rankings for the year were Segura, Gonzales, Kovacs, Riggs, Van Horn, Earn, Parker, Jimmy Evert, Bob Rogers, Jack Rodgers, Fishbach, Nogrady, Adler, Elwood Cooke, McGrath, Doyle, Harris Everett, Len Hartman, Norman Copeland, Mitchell Gornto; "Kramer and Budge were not ranked due to insufficent data." <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 57</ref>.
1952 Pancho Gonzales A. (USA) - Pancho Segura P. (Ecuador-USA) both equally ranked Joe McCauley; Budge in McCauley's book page 57 : "the PLTA ranked Segura #1; Kramer was semi-retired; Budge and Gonzales played only sporadically". In his book McCauley has traced only 9 tournaments and a small US tour, among these 9 tournaments 2 seemed to be domestic Nationals (British Pro and German Pro) so there left 7 tournaments for the leading pros. Segura entered the 7 and Gonzales played 5 of them and won 4 and reached 1 final. Moreover Gonzales defeated Segura 4 times out of 5. In the 1953 July edition of "Sport" magazine Budge declared :"In the pas two years Pancho (Gonzales) has won the majority of all the big pro tournaments. He has to be considered the best, at least until somebody proves otherwise." In particular Gonzales def. Segura (and Kramer) in Philadelphia Pro and Gonzales def. Kramer in Wembley Pro; Segura overcame Gonzales in U.S. Pro; in the amateur circuit Frank Sedgman won the Davis Cup with Ken McGregor and the Australian also reached the four finals of the Grand Slam tournaments, winning the last (chronologically) two Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships. It is very hard to compare Gonzales, Segura, Kramer wiht Sedgman the best amateur : next year the Australian, turned pro, was dominated by Kramer and Segura but he defeated Gonzales twice (later Gonzales regularly beat Sedgman). Then it is possible that Gonzales and Segura were very slightly superior to Sedgman in 1952 but without any certainty.
1953 Jack Kramer P. (USA) Frank Sedgman P. (Aus.) Bud Collins; Joe McCauley; in the course of 1953 Lance Tingay wrote that it was very difficult to establish a hierarchy because Gonzales hadn't still met one of the top pros : in fact a) Kramer retired on July 9 and never met Gonzales that year and b) Gonzales met Segura and Sedgman for the first time of the year only in November. Kramer def. Sedgman 54-41 on the head-to-head tour while Segura def. McGregor 71-25 in the head-to-head preliminary matches; during tour breaks these four men played three 4-man tournaments with Kramer winning two of them; Kramer's whole 1953 record was 56-41 to Sedgman and 2-1 to Segura; the Ecuadorian won 5 tournaments (more than any other pro); Sedgman beat Gonzales both in Wembley Pro and in Paris (probably, but not surely, officially entitled the French Pro) but the Australian trailed Segura 3-7 in head-to-head meetings; Gonzales not chosen for the world tour played until November in tournaments without the three other greats and then won a depleted U.S. Pro over Budge. Knowing that Sedgman won the greatest pro tournament, Wembley, and that he was beaten by Kramer in tour a possible, but not sure at all, 1953 pro ranking is 1) Kramer, 2) Sedgman; Tony Trabert, the best amateur of the time, was probably less good than the four best pros.
1954 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Frank Sedgman P. (Aus.) — Pancho Segura P. (Ecuador-USA) Joe McCauley; Jack Kramer; in 1953-1954 the sources are still conflicting : it would seem that there was only one Australian tour during these two years and that it happened in November-December 1954 and that Gonzales won it (16-9 to Sedgman; 4-2 to Segura; 15-0 to McGregor); the American also won, at the beginning of the year, the U.S. tour, a succession of 4-man tournaments : he overcame Sedgman 30-20 and Segura 30-20 (Segura def. Sedgman 23-22 and Budge (replaced by Carl Earn in March) won only a few matches against the others); in autumn Segura, Gonzales, Sedgman and Kramer, coming back in singles, after his 20-month retirement, toured in the Far East with Segura's record as being Segura-Gonzales 1-1, Segura-Sedgman 2-1 and Segura-Kramer 4-0; in tournaments Gonzales def. Sedgman in U.S. Pro and Sedgman def. Segura in the first Australian Pro of tennis history; the amateur circuit was dominated by the duet Tony Trabert/Jaroslav Drobny, the American won with Seixas the Davis Cup and captured Roland Garros while Drobny won at last Wimbledon; nevertheless these two players seemed a little rank below the trio Gonzales-Sedgman-Segura.
1955 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Pancho Segura P. (Ecuador-USA) Bud Collins; Joe McCauley; even though the USA lost the Davis Cup, Tony Trabert had a sensational amateur year, winning 3 of the 4 Grand Slams, but was never a consistent winner upon turning professional; Gonzales-Trabert head-to-head tour began in Dec and Gonzales overcame Trabert since the first match; Gonzales dominated the pros beating Segura in U.S. Pro; Sedgman has played very little in 1955 and in particular underwent a surgery of appendicitis; Lawn Tennis and Badminton ranked the top 12 professionals as Gonzales, Segura, Kovacs, Sedgman, Riggs, Earn, Budge, Parker, Pails, Perry, Doyle, and Sam Match <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 66</ref>.
1956 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Frank Sedgman P. (Aus.) Joe McCauley, page 72; Gonzales def. Trabert 74-24 on the American head-to-head tour, Segura def. Rex Hartwig 56-22 (5 even) in the head-to-head preliminary matches; Gonzales beat Segura in U.S. Pro; Gonzales beat Sedgman both in the Tournament of Champions, in Los Angeles, and in Wembley Pro; Trabert beat Gonzales in Fr. Pro; as Trabert in 1955, Hoad made a "Little amateur Slam" but he was probably under the best pros as his pro debut, next year, proved it.
1957 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) Joe McCauley; Gonzales def. Rosewall 50-26 in the World head-to-head tour, Segura def. Dinny Pails 51-8 in the head-to-head preliminary matches; Rosewall probably (to confirm) won a small European tour over Hoad, Segura and Kramer; Rosewall won an Australian tour over Hoad, Sedgman and Segura; Segura beat Sedgman in Australian Pro; Gonzales beat Segura in U.S. Pro; Gonzales also won the Tournament of Champions at Forest Hills and the Masters Round Robin in Los Angeles; Rosewall beat Segura in Wembley Pro; in the amateur circuit Hoad won Wimbledon easily, losing just one set and then he turned pro right after, regularly beaten by the best pros in the first three months.
1958 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Lew Hoad P. (Aus.) McCauley; Gonzales def. Hoad 51-36 in the world tour and in the preliminary matches Trabert def. Segura 34-31; Gonzales beat Rosewall in the Tournament of Champions at Forest Hills; Gonzales beat Hoad in U.S. Pro; Sedgman beat Trabert both in Wembley Pro and in the Australian Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in Fr. Pro.
1959 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) Frank Sedgman P. (Aus.) Joe McCauley, page 97; American round robin results: : Gonzales 47-15, Hoad 42-20, Ashley Cooper 21-40, Mal Anderson 13-48; Hoad, however, def. Gonzales 15-13 during the round robin; Hoad beat Gonzales the Tournament of Champions at Forest Hills; Gonzales beat Hoad in U.S. Pro; Mal Anderson beat Segura in Wembley Pro; Trabert beat Sedgman in French Pro; Kramer & L'Équipe ranked Gonzales & Sedgman 1 and 2 for the year (for the first time L'Équipe ranked pros and amateurs together).
1960 Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) - Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) both ranked equally Joe McCauley; L'Équipe; Robert Geist; McCauley p57 World Series Round Robin matches for the world championship among 4 players: Gonzales 49-8, Rosewall 32-25, Segura 22-28, Alex Olmedo 11-44; just after Gonzales won a small tournament and then shortly retired; Olmedo beat Trabert in a depleted U.S. Pro; Rosewall beat Segura in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in Fr. Pro; once again Kramer ranked Gonzales & Sedgman 1 and 2 for the year but Sedgman didn't win as much as in 1959; L'Équipe ranked Rosewall No. 1 because of European results; in his book "DER GRÖSSTE MEISTER Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall" Robert Geist co-ranked Gonzales & Rosewall #1.
1961 Ken Rosewall A. (Aus.) - Pancho Gonzales P. (USA) both ranked equally Joe McCauley; L'Équipe, Robert Geist; there were 47 World Series Round Robin matches for the world championship among 6 players, followed by 28 head-to-head matches between the top 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 to determine the final champion; Rosewall, however, took several long vacations and played very little in the first half of the year; substitutions were permitted for injured players in the round robin: Gonzales-(Segura) 33-14, Hoad-(Trabert, Cooper, Sedgman) 24-23, Olmedo 18-29, Andres Gimeno 27-20, Butch Buchholz 16-31, Barry MacKay 22-25; #1 Gonzales then def. #2 Gimeno 21-7, #3 Sedgman def. #4 MacKay 15-13; Gonzales beat Sedgman in U.S. Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Gonzales in Fr. Pro; at the end of the year (October 25) Gonzales retired once again for 20 months (back in the circuit on June 27, 1963); L'Équipe once again ranked Rosewall No. 1 (2) Gonzales, 3) Hoad, 4) Trabert, 5) Segura, 6) Gimeno, 7) Cooper, 8) MacKay, 9) Olmedo, 10) Buchholz, 11) Laver, 12) Anderson, 13) Emerson, 14) Pietrangeli, 15) Santana, 16) Ayala, 17) Krishnan, 18) Sangster, 19) Lundquist, 20) McKinley, 21) Darmon, ... 23) Neale Fraser) primarily because of European results in second half of year; McCauley's 1961 chapter is entitled: Gonzales Still World Champion but says in the text that Rosewall had a good claim to being No. 1 <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, pages 108 and 111</ref>; Geist ranked Rosewall #1 alone.
1962 Ken Rosewall P. (USA) Lew Hoad P. (Aus.) McCauley; no American tour, very little tennis for first 6 months; Rosewall then dominated European tournaments, winning most of them; Rod Laver had a sensational amateur year, winning all 4 of the Grand Slams, then turned professional for 1963, where he initially lost 19 of 21 matches to Rosewall and Hoad; Butch Buchholz beat Segura in U.S. Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Gimeno in Fr. Pro; Rosewall announced his Pro rankings at the end of 1962: #1 Rosewall, #2 Hoad, #3 Gimeno, #4 Laver.
1963 Ken Rosewall P. (USA) Rod Laver P. (Aus.) McCauley; no American tour, Rosewall & Hoad def. Laver initially, then in a World Championship Series Laver (26-16) finished second in wins to Rosewall (31-10), with Buchholz third (23-18). Rosewall then beat Laver 14-4 for the World Championship. In the second half of the year Laver won a number of European tournaments, but Rosewall won the two major European tournaments; Rosewall beat Laver in U.S. Pro; Rosewall beat Hoad in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Laver in Fr. Pro.
1964 Rod Laver P. (Aus.) - Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) both ranked equally Joe McCauley; Robert Geist; Both Rosewall and Laver won 11 tournaments each; Laver beat Rosewall 12-3 in head-to-head matches; Gonzales unretired and won two major tournaments; Laver, rather modest in his speech, is quoted by McCauley as saying: "I... would like to be the World's No. 1.... I am not that yet — Ken is. I may have beaten him more often than he has beaten me this year but he has won the biggest tournaments... I've lost to other people but Ken hasn't." <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 128</ref>; A point system for 17 (or 18) pro tournaments (excluding at least 12 other tournaments) also resulted in Rosewall being No. 1 to Laver's No. 2 but that system granted each tournament the same points and then was unfair to the big events where Laver was superior to Rosewall : Laver beat Rosewall & Gonzales in U.S. Pro; Laver again beat Rosewall in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Laver in Fr. Pro; McCauley's 1964 chapter is entitled: Rosewall Tops Again But Only Just <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 126</ref> but Robert Geist co-ranked Laver & Rosewall #1 (in his book "DER GRÖSSTE MEISTER Die denkwürdige Karriere des australischen Tennisspielers Kenneth Robert Rosewall").
1965 Rod Laver P. (Aus.) Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) McCauley; Laver beat Rosewall 13-5 in head-to-head matches and won 15 tournaments to Rosewall's 6; Rosewall beat Laver in U.S. Pro; Laver beat Gimeno in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Laver in Fr. Pro.
1966 Rod Laver P. (Aus.) Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) McCauley; Laver won 15 tournaments, Rosewall won 9, Gimeno won 6, Gonzales won 1; Laver beat Rosewall 7-6 in head-to-head matches; Laver beat Rosewall in U.S. Pro; Laver beat Rosewall in Wembley Pro; Rosewall beat Laver in Fr. Pro.
1967 Rod Laver P. (Aus.) Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) McCauley; Laver won 18 tournaments, Rosewall won 7; Laver beat Rosewall 8-5 in head-to-head matches; Laver beat Gimeno in U.S. Pro; Laver beat Rosewall in Wembley Pro; Laver beat Gimeno in Fr. Pro.
1968 Rod Laver P. (Aus.) Arthur Ashe A. (USA) Collins; McCauley; first year of Open era; 10 open tournaments were played, with professionals winning 8 and amateurs 2; of 244 matches, professionals won 199, amateurs 45; <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 157</ref>. Laver beat John Newcombe in U.S. Pro; Rosewall beat Newcombe in Wembley Pro; Laver beat Newcombe in Fr. Pro; in World Tennis magazine, McCauley ranked the top 10, professional and amateur, as being Laver, Ashe, Tom Okker, Rosewall, Newcombe, Tony Roche, Clark Graebner, Cliff Drysdale, Gonzales, Dennis Ralston <ref>The History of Professional Tennis, by Joe McCauley, page 158</ref>.
1969 Rod Laver P. (Aus.) Tony Roche P. (Aus.) Collins; Tingay; Laver beat Newcombe in U.S. Pro; Laver beat Roche in Wembley Pro.
1970 John Newcombe P. (Aus.) Ken Rosewall P. (Aus.) McCauley; Collins; Tingay; The panel of experts for the 'Martini and Rosso' Cup, ranked Rosewall Nr.1 narrowly over Laver. Judith Elian from L'Équipe placed Rosewall first ahead Newcombe, Roche and Laver. The panel of journalists which made the WCT draw for 1971 ranked Laver #1, Rosewall #2, Newcombe #3 and Robert Geist co-ranked Rosewall, Laver and Newcombe #1; Roche beat Laver in U.S. Pro; Laver beat Cliff Richey in Wembley Pro.
1971 John Newcombe P. (Aus.) Stan Smith P. (USA) Tingay; Collins; the Martini-Rossi award was given jointly to Smith and Newcombe; Judith Elian co-ranked Newcombe and Smith equal; Nastase's ranking : 1) Smith, 2) Newcombe, 3) Kodes; Rosewall beat Drysdale in U.S. Pro; Ilie Năstase beat Laver in Wembley Pro.
1972 Stan Smith P. (USA) Ilie Năstase P. (Rom.) Judith Elian; Tingay; McCauley all three ranked Smith #1, Năstase #2 and Rosewall #3; Collins didn't agree with the previous journalists because he ranked Năstase after Rosewall; Bob Lutz beat Tom Okker in U.S. Pro; Richey beat Clark Graebner in Wembley Pro.
1973 Ilie Năstase P. (Rom.) John Newcombe P. (Aus.) Collins; Tennis (US magazine); Jimmy Connors beat Ashe in U.S. Pro.
1974 Jimmy Connors P. (USA) John Newcombe P. (Aus.) Collins; Tennis (US magazine);; Björn Borg beat Okker in U.S. Pro.
1975 Arthur Ashe P. (USA) Björn Borg P. (Swe.) Collins; Judith Elian; Barry Lorge; Borg beat Guillermo Vilas in U.S. Pro.
1976 Jimmy Connors P. (USA) Björn Borg P. (Swe.) Collins; Tingay; John Barrett; Peter Bodo; Elian; Borg beat Harold Solomon in U.S. Pro.
1977 Björn Borg P. (Swe.) Guillermo Vilas P. (Arg.) Tennis Magazine (France); Manuel Orantes beat Eddie Dibbs in U.S. Pro.
1978 Björn Borg P. (Swe.) Jimmy Connors P. (USA) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Borg as World Champion; Orantes beat Solomon in U.S. Pro.
1979 Björn Borg P. (Swe.) John McEnroe P. (USA) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Borg as World Champion; Jose Higueras beat Hans Gildemeister in U.S. Pro.
1980 Björn Borg P. (Swe.) John McEnroe P. (USA.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Borg as World Champion; Dibbs beat Gene Mayer in U.S. Pro.
1981 John McEnroe P. (USA) Björn Borg P. (Cze.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded McEnroe as World Champion; Jose-Luis Clerc beat Gildemeister in U.S. Pro.
1982 Jimmy Connors P. (USA) Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) L'Équipe; Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Connors as World Champion; Vilas beat Mel Purcell in U.S. Pro.
1983 John McEnroe P. (USA) Mats Wilander P. (Swe.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded McEnroe as World Champion (against Wilander); Clerc beat Jimmy Arias in U.S. Pro.
1984 John McEnroe P. (USA) Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded McEnroe as World Champion; Aaron Krickstein beat Clerc in U.S. Pro.
1985 Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) Mats Wilander P. (Swe.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Lendl as World Champion; Mats Wilander beat Martin Jaite in U.S. Pro.
1986 Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) Boris Becker P. (Ger.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Lendl as World Champion; Andres Gomez beat Jaite in U.S. Pro.
1987 Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) Stefan Edberg P. (Swe.) ITF awarded Lendl as World Champion; Wilander beat Kent Carlsson in U.S. Pro.
1988 Mats Wilander P. (Swe.) Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Wilander as World Champion; Thomas Muster beat Lawson Duncan in U.S. Pro.
1989 Boris Becker P. (Ger.) Ivan Lendl P. (Cze.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Becker as World Champion; Gomez beat Wilander in U.S. Pro.
1990 Stefan Edberg P. (Swe.) Boris Becker P. (Ger.) Tennis Magazine (France); This is the only time when the ITF award was strongly criticized : the ITF had punished Edberg for he didn't want to play the Grand Slam Cup, a Chatrier's invention to fight the new ATP circuit (the ITF designated Lendl); Jaite beat Libor Nemecek in U.S. Pro.
1991 Stefan Edberg P. (Swe.) Jim Courier P. (USA) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Edberg as World Champion; Gomez beat Andrei Cherkasov in U.S. Pro.
1992 Jim Courier P. (USA) Stefan Edberg P. (Swe.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Courier as World Champion; Ivan Lendl beat Richey Reneberg in U.S. Pro.
1993 Pete Sampras P. (USA) Jim Courier P. (Ger.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Sampras as World Champion; Lendl beat Todd Martin in U.S. Pro.
1994 Pete Sampras P. (USA) Andre Agassi P. (USA) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Sampras as World Champion; Lendl beat MaliVai Washington in U.S. Pro.
1995 Pete Sampras P. (USA) Andre Agassi P. (USA) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Sampras as World Champion; U.S. Pro not completed because of rain.
1996 Pete Sampras P. (USA) Michael Chang P. (USA) ITF awarded Sampras as World Champion; U.S. Pro not held
1997 Pete Sampras P. (USA) Patrick Rafter P. (Aus.) ITF awarded Sampras as World Champion; Sjeng Schalken beat Marcelo Rios in U.S. Pro.
1998 Pete Sampras P. (USA) Marcelo Rios P. (Chi.) ITF awarded Sampras as World Champion; Michael Chang beat Paul Haarhuis in U.S. Pro.
1999 Andre Agassi P. (USA) Pete Sampras P. (Rus.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Agassi as World Champion; Marat Safin beat Greg Rusedski in U.S. Pro.
2000 Gustavo Kuerten P. (Bra.) Marat Safin P. (Rus.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Kuerten as World Champion
2001 Lleyton Hewitt P. (Aus.) Gustavo Kuerten P. (Bra.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Hewitt as World Champion
2002 Lleyton Hewitt P. (Aus.) Andre Agassi P. (USA) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Hewitt as World Champion
2003 Andy Roddick P. (USA) Juan Carlos Ferrero P. (Esp.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Roddick as World Champion
2004 Roger Federer P. (Sui.) Lleyton Hewitt P. (Aus.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Federer as World Champion
2005 Roger Federer P. (Sui.) Rafael Nadal P. (Esp.) Tennis Magazine (France); ITF awarded Federer as World Champion
2006 Roger Federer P. (Sui.) Rafael Nadal P. (Esp.) ATP

[edit] Notes

<references/>

[edit] History

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/World_No._1_Tennis_Player_Pre-ATP_Rankings"
Personal tools