kiki, Yes, 1970 to 1973 did not have a clear No.1. But yet it was a strong period.
That is what makes interesting to find a number one with a valid argument to back it up.
Not the best player in absolute terms, not even the best one for a given match or tournament but the player that did a bit better than the other opponents to be considered as the best in the world.
In the women´s ranks it was basically Court with King and Goolagong having each one a dominating year.Evert came round in 1974 as a solid number one.
But I can think of 7 players that could claim to be number one at some periods of the season during the 70-73 frame.
while I concede it is very debatable, my feeling is:
1970 1/ Rosewall 2/ Newcombe 3/Laver
1971 1/ Smith 2/Rosewall 3/Newcombe and Kodes
1972 1/Nastase 2/Smith 3/Rosewall
1973 1/Nastase and Newcombe 3/Kodes
Ashe had periods when he could also be considered but didn´t win anything big except the 1970 AO and the 1972 WCT winter finals which were basically second rate tournaments.
If we consider the full four years as a whole, the final outcome would be:
1/Nastase and Smith 3/Rosewall 4/Kodes and Newcombe 6/Ashe and Laver
No other player can fit in, although Gimeno and Roche were always top ten players and then, it is a toss up with Okker,Franulovic and Pilic, although I think Okker deserves the tenth place much more than the others since he was a much better all round player.
From spectator point of view, given the contrast and mixture of styles and the great quality of these players, I consider 1970 to 1973 as one of the best periods in tennis history.
Those top ten plus Pilic,Orantes,Franulovic,Lutz,Gorman,Riessen,Metrevali,Taylor,Richey,Panatta and young and emerging guys such as Borg and Jimmy Connors...you don´t get it much better.