1970 Australian Open - Tournament

Tournament

Encouraged by Rod Laver's 1969 Grand Slam, Margaret Court successfully began her own Grand Slam campaign at the White City Stadium in Sydney, winning the Australian Open title without dropping a single set. She defeated fellow Australian Kerry Melville in the final 6–1, 6–3. Although the advent of the Open Era meant tournaments were now open to all tennis players the 1970 Australian Open men’s competition was depleted by the absence of the world class players Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Andres Gimeno, Pancho Gonzales, Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle. All these professional players were signed to the National Tennis League and were banned from entering the Australian Open because the financial guarantees were deemed unsatisfactory. The men’s draw still had its memorable matches, not least in the quarterfinal when Dennis Ralston defeated local hero John Newcombe 19–17, 20–18, 4–6, 6–3 in the longest match (in games) in Australian Open history. The men’s singles final between American Arthur Ashe and Australian Dick Crealy resulted in with Ashe winning his first and only Australian Open title in straight sets 6–4, 9–7, 6–2. The result was particularly rewarding for Ashe as he had lost in the 1966 and 1967 finals. Ashe was the first non-Australian to win the title since Alex Olmedo beat Neale Fraser in 1959.