1973 Wimbledon Championships

ATP boycott

In May 1973 Nikola Pilić, Yugoslavia's number one tennis player, was suspended by his national lawn tennis association, the Yugoslav Tennis Association, which claimed he had refused to play in a Davis Cup tie for his country against New Zealand earlier that month. The initial suspension of nine months, supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), later was reduced by the ILTF to one month, which meant that Pilić would not be permitted to play at Wimbledon. This resulted in a large number of qualifiers and lucky losers.

Three ATP players, Ilie Năstase, Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie, defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee. Năstase unsuccessfully appealed the fine as he insisted that as a serving captain, he was under orders from the Romanian army and government to compete. Some contemporary press speculation and later biographies have suggested Năstase contrived to lose his fourth round match as he supported the ATP boycott, but to have lost any earlier to a considerably less able player would have been too obvious. Năstase never has commented on this speculation. Despite the boycott, the attendance of 300,172 was the second highest in the championships' history to that date.

Prize money

The total prize money for 1973 championships was £52,400. The winner of the men's title earned £5,000 while the women's singles champion earned £3,000.

• per team

Champions

Seniors

Men's singles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles

TCH Jan Kodeš defeated URS Alex Metreveli, 6–1, 9–8(7–5), 6–3

Women's singles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles

USA Billie Jean King defeated USA Chris Evert, 6–0, 7–5

• It was King's 10th career Grand Slam title (her 6th in the Open Era), and her 5th Wimbledon title.

Men's doubles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles

USA Jimmy Connors / ROM Ilie Năstase defeated AUS John Cooper / AUS Neale Fraser, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 8–9(3–7), 6–1

Women's doubles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Women's doubles

USA Rosemary Casals / USA Billie Jean King defeated FRA Françoise Dürr / NED Betty Stöve, 6–1, 4–6, 7–5

Mixed doubles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles

AUS Owen Davidson / USA Billie Jean King defeated MEX Raúl Ramírez / USA Janet Newberry, 6–3, 6–2

• King became the only player to win the 'triple crown' (Singles, Doubles & Mixed Doubles) twice in the post-war era, repeating her success of 1967.

Juniors

Boys' singles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' singles

USA Billy Martin defeated RHO Colin Dowdeswell, 6–2, 6–4

Girls' singles

Main article: 1973 Wimbledon Championships – Girls' singles

USA Ann Kiyomura defeated TCH Martina Navrátilová, 6–4, 7–5

Singles seeds

Men's singles

1. ROM Ilie Năstase (fourth round, lost to Sandy Mayer)
2. TCH Jan Kodeš (champion)
3. GBR Roger Taylor (semifinals, lost to Jan Kodeš)
4. URS Alex Metreveli (final, lost to Jan Kodeš)
5. USA Jimmy Connors (quarterfinals, lost to Alex Metreveli)
6. SWE Björn Borg (quarterfinals, lost to Roger Taylor)
7. AUS Owen Davidson (fourth round, lost to Vijay Amritraj)
8. FRG Jürgen Fassbender (quarterfinals, lost to Sandy Mayer)

The original seeding list before the boycott was:

1. USA Stan Smith
2. ROM Ilie Năstase
3. AUS John Newcombe
4. USA Arthur Ashe
5. AUS Ken Rosewall
6. NED Tom Okker
7. USA Marty Riessen
8. AUS Roy Emerson
9. USA Tom Gorman
10. USA Cliff Richey
11. ITA Adriano Panatta
12. ESP Manuel Orantes
13. URS Alex Metreveli
14. USA Bob Lutz
15. TCH Jan Kodeš
16. GBR Roger Taylor

Women's singles

1. AUS Margaret Court (semifinals, lost to Chris Evert)
2. USA Billie Jean King (champion)
3. AUS Evonne Goolagong (semifinals, lost to Billie Jean King)
4. USA Chris Evert (final, lost to Billie Jean King)
5. USA Rosie Casals (quarterfinals, lost to Chris Evert)
6. GBR Virginia Wade (quarterfinals, lost to Evonne Goolagong)
7. AUS Kerry Melville (quarterfinals, lost to Billie Jean King)
8. URS Olga Morozova (quarterfinals, lost to Margaret Court)

References

References

1. Collins, Bud. (2010). "The Bud Collins History of Tennis". New Chapter Press.
2. Barrett, John. (2001). "Wimbledon : The Official History of the Championships". CollinsWillow.
3. "Yugoslavia v New Zealand". daviscup.com.
4. (23 June 2004). "Wimbledon faces 2004 boycott". BBC.
5. "The History of the Championships". AELTC.
6. Evans, Richard. 'Ilie Nastase' May 1978 Aidan Ellis Publishing. {{ISBN. 978-0856280580
7. Robertson, Max. 'Wimbledon: Centre Court of the Game' May 1984 Parkwest Publications. {{ISBN. 978-0881864502
8. (1974). "World of Tennis '74". Queen Anne.
9. Little, Alan. (2013). "Wimbledon Compendium 2013". [[AELTC.
10. "About Wimbledon – Prize Money and Finance". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
11. "Gentlemen's Singles Finals 1877–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
12. "Ladies' Singles Finals 1884–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
13. "Gentlemen's Doubles Finals 1884–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
14. "Ladies' Doubles Finals 1913–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
15. "Mixed Doubles Finals 1913–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
16. "Boys' Singles Finals 1947–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.
17. "Girls' Singles Finals 1947–2017". [[The Championships, Wimbledon.