World-number-one Male Tennis-player Rankings - The Major Professional Tournaments Before 1968

The Major Professional Tournaments Before 1968

Tradition on the pro circuit was non-existent before 1968 because the event hierarchy could change each year. Some major tournaments, however, stood out at different times, as the Wikipedia article Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era explains.

Elite events that lasted only a few years (mostly because of financial collapse) included:

• Bristol Cup: 1920s,
• Queen's Club Pro: 1928
• Southport tournament: 1935-1939
• World Pro Championships in Berlin: 1930's
• U.S Pro hardcourt: 1945
• Philadelphia: 1950-1952
• Tournament of Champions: 1956-1959
• Masters Pro Round Robin: 1957-1958
• Australian Pro: 1954, 1957–1958
• Madison Square Garden Pro: 1966, 1967
• Wimbledon Pro: 1967
• Bonnardel Cup: 1930s
• Kramer Cup: 1961-1963

Three major tournaments held a certain tradition and usually had the best of the leading players. They were called "Championship Tournaments." The most prestigious of the three was generally the London Indoor Professional Championship. Played between 1934 and 1990 at Wembley Arena in the United Kingdom, the tournament was unofficially and usually considered the world's championship until 1967. The oldest of the three was the United States Professional Championship, played between 1927 and 1999. Between 1954 and 1962 it was played indoors in Cleveland and was called the World Professional Championships. The third major tournament was the French Professional Championship, played between 1934 and 1968, generally at Roland Garros. The British and American championships continued into the open era but devolved to the status of minor tournaments. The winner and runner-up in each of these tournaments will be shown for the years in which they were played.

These three tournaments (Wembley Pro, French Pro and U.S. Pro) through 1967 are sometimes referred to as the professional Grand Slam tournaments by tennis historians. In any particular year, another tournament, such as the Forest Hills Pro or the Masters Pro, could have had a better field. But over the decades, these were the three "majors" that all professional players sought.