The MSG was always a great place not only for boxing, but for professional tennis as well. In the old days of pro tennis, the long mano-a-mano tours started always at the Garden. Tilden and Vines played there the opening match of their World Series in 1934. Tilden won the match, Vines the whole tour. Perry and Budge also had great matches at the Garden. Famous was the opening match between holder Riggs and new pro Kramer end 1947 before a sellout crowd in the middle of a blizzard. Riggs, more accostumed to the indoor conditions, won, but lost the series. Kramer and Gonzales had big matches also there. In 1963, Laver won one of the first matches against Rosewall on the Garden court. in 1966, MSG became the venue of a rich pro tournament, which Rosewall in 1966 and Laver in 1967, 68 and 69 won. In 69, there was also an open tournament, won by Gimeno over Ashe. In 1970 and 71, MSG was the main venue for the - for the time incredibly - rich Classic-Series of 10000 $ winner-take-all-matches. In 1970, Gonzales beat Laver in the opening match befor a big crowd, but Laver retaliated and won the sf there over Gonzales in straight and Rosewall in the final in straight sets. In 1971, Laver won all 13 matches against all comers (for a record 160000 $), including wins over Rosewall, Ashe, Ralston and Okker at the Garden. Since 1977, MSG became the venue of the Masters Cup, leading to all the great matches between Connors and Borg, Connors and Vilas, Mac and Ashe, Borg and Lendl, Lendl and Gerulaitis, Lendl and Becker or Edberg. It was a shame, that in 1989 the venue was given up, due to political reasons, because Germany with Becker got the nod, first at Frankfurt, later at Hannover. That was virtually the end for mens tennis at the Garden, while the women remained a little longer there. The best womens match probably was the Seles-Sabatini five-setter in 1990.
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