kiki
Banned
big monex exos...exotic venues...colourful TV coverage...many specialized magazines...rock like stardom...great personalities...amazing mizture of modernity and tradition...development of the women´s game...the ATP, the ITF, the WTA...richest ever era as far as diversity and creativity is concerned...
Well. the 70´s and 80´s were that and even more, noneless it is widely known as Golden Era.
But none of that would have been possible without Lamar Hunt´s WCT tour: the first truly professional, big money, nice venues and perfectly organized and tamed professional tour with its legendary Spring Finals held at Dallas.
Due to its prestige, the finals were having near slam status and along the Masters, were considered part of the big five events of the year, with Roland Garros ( although some considered it a minor slam for certain years), Wimbledon and Forest Hills ( later on Flushing Meadows) being the other three.
The AO, SA O and IO were still important but not nearly at those event´s level by any means, albeit Melbourne started recovering its old prestige and high regard by the second part of the 80´s.
WCT run a three group of 21 players events with 16 men draws filled of all the big names , all of them except Jimmy Connors ( but in 77 he was the main attraction of the tour after several years when he didn´t enter the Hunt´s circuit).It is said that the 71 and 72 finals between Laver and Rosewall did more for tennis explosion than anything done in the past and TV ratings got ooff charts numbers.
As said, perfect organization, big tv coverage, attractive money, venues, formats and a great ambition to put tennis as the trendiest sport of the 70´s: all of us who lived through that era know how much modern tennis owns to Mr Hunt and the WCT, even if the tour and its finals, due to financial trouble ended up in 1989 ( how magically tamed¡¡¡ the last year of the GE was also the last year of WCT).
and WCT is also linked to the explosion of indoor tennis, the tour´s main surface of the 70 and 80.
Well. the 70´s and 80´s were that and even more, noneless it is widely known as Golden Era.
But none of that would have been possible without Lamar Hunt´s WCT tour: the first truly professional, big money, nice venues and perfectly organized and tamed professional tour with its legendary Spring Finals held at Dallas.
Due to its prestige, the finals were having near slam status and along the Masters, were considered part of the big five events of the year, with Roland Garros ( although some considered it a minor slam for certain years), Wimbledon and Forest Hills ( later on Flushing Meadows) being the other three.
The AO, SA O and IO were still important but not nearly at those event´s level by any means, albeit Melbourne started recovering its old prestige and high regard by the second part of the 80´s.
WCT run a three group of 21 players events with 16 men draws filled of all the big names , all of them except Jimmy Connors ( but in 77 he was the main attraction of the tour after several years when he didn´t enter the Hunt´s circuit).It is said that the 71 and 72 finals between Laver and Rosewall did more for tennis explosion than anything done in the past and TV ratings got ooff charts numbers.
As said, perfect organization, big tv coverage, attractive money, venues, formats and a great ambition to put tennis as the trendiest sport of the 70´s: all of us who lived through that era know how much modern tennis owns to Mr Hunt and the WCT, even if the tour and its finals, due to financial trouble ended up in 1989 ( how magically tamed¡¡¡ the last year of the GE was also the last year of WCT).
and WCT is also linked to the explosion of indoor tennis, the tour´s main surface of the 70 and 80.
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