WCT Circuit

The WCT Circuit was one of the two rival professional male tennis circuits started in 1968. In 1970 a rival the other being the ILTF Grand Prix Circuit was founded. It was organized by World Championship Tennis (WCT). In 1977 the circuits name was changed to the WCT World Series of Tennis.Barrett, John & Tingay, Lance (1978) World of Tennis: A BP Yearbook. WCT 1977. MacDonald and Jane's. London. {{ISBN|0354090380}}. page. 173. In 1978 it was incorporated into ITF Grand Prix Circuit with its events known as the World Series of Tennis.Barrett, John & Tingay, Lance (1979) World of Tennis: A BP Yearbook. The WCT Year. MacDonald and Jane's. London. {{ISBN|0354090682}}. page. 173. In April 1981 World Championship Tennis withdrew from Grand Prix Circuit. In 1982 it was re-established as an independent circuit until December 1984. In 1985 the circuit was once again incorporated into ITF Grand Prix Circuit until 1988. In 1989 it became an independent circuit once again. In 1990 both it and the Grand Prix Circuit were replaced by a single world wide ATP Tour.ATP Tour, (1990) Daily Express Newspaper. London. Websource: https://www.express.co.uk/latest/atp-tour?pageNumber=17. page.17. with its last three events being absorbed into the 1990 ATP Tour in September that year World Championship Tennis ceased trading.

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WCT tournaments returned to the Grand Prix stage after a three-year absence during 1982–84. There were only four events. The titles were split between Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, winning two each. While McEnroe entered into all four, Lendl played just two and won both. McEnroe won the WCT Houston title, beating Kevin Curren in the final.

The WCT Finals in Dallas saw the unexpected defeat of McEnroe in the quarterfinals by Joakim Nyström in three straight sets. The title was captured by Lendl, whose success completed a triplicate of titles in three weeks: Fort Myers on hard, Monte Carlo on clay and Dallas on the carpet. Other players have won three, even four, tournaments in successive weeks in the Open Era, but never on different surfaces.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}

In Atlanta, McEnroe won the final over Paul Annacone in three sets. The WCT Tournament of Champions in Forest Hills ended with much anticipated final between Lendl and McEnroe. Despite winning only two of his last 12 matches over McEnroe in ATP tournaments, Lendl beat McEnroe 6–3 6–3.

The WCT Atlanta Championships tournament was marked by early exits of top seeds Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker in the first round. Edberg lost to Mikael Pernfors, and Becker lost to Tim Wilkison. In Dallas, Anders Järryd was the unexpected winner, having replaced the injured Ivan Lendl in the 12-player draw.

1989 was the final year of the WCT tour. Only three events were organized, all of them were incorporated into the Nabisco Grand Prix and gaining ATP ranking points.

At the 19th (and last) WCT Finals in Reunion Arena, John McEnroe won his fifth Dallas title. His semifinal with Ivan Lendl produced the best match of the tournament, and McEnroe beat Lendl for the first time in over three years. The tournament was negatively impacted by the withdrawals of Boris Becker (who did not appear at all) and Andre Agassi (walking off the court during a second set match with McEnroe). Brad Gilbert entered the event to fill the gap for Becker and surprisingly made it to the final. Later in spring, Lendl captured last two WCT titles in Scottsdale and Forest Hills{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D7153AF93AA15757C0A96F948260 | work=The New York Times | title=Some Changes At Forest Hills | date=April 29, 1989}} to close the WCT era.

There was no WCT tour in 1990, when the ATP established its own circuit named the ATP Tour, however there was one (final) tournament sanctioned by WCT.{{cite news|title=W.C.T. Out of Business|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/28/sports/wct-out-of-business.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 28, 1990}} The Forest Hills WCT at West Side Tennis Club was moved from green clay to hardcourts and run as special non-ATP Tour event. Ivan Lendl stamped his WCT dominance winning the last title.

{{main article|WCT Finals}}

The WCT Finals was a men's indoor carpet court tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship on the annual WCT Circuit administered by World Championship Tennis. From 1971–1989 the event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, United States.

{{reflist}}

• https://worldchampionshiptennis.com/

Category:Defunct tennis tours

Category:History of tennis