&sq=&lang=&file=File:Stan_Smith_2009_US_Open_01.jpg) Stan Smith at 2009 US Open | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 14 February 1972 – 28 November 1972 |
| Edition | 3rd |
| Tournaments | 33 |
| Categories | Group AA (3) Group A (7) Group B (4) Group C (14) Group D (5) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles |  Stan Smith (9) |
| Most tournament finals |  Ilie Năstase (11) |
| Prize money leader | Ilie Năstase (£21,000) |
| Points leader | Ilie Năstase (659) |
← 1971 1973 → | |
The 1972 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year and organized by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF). It consisted of 33 Grand Prix tournaments in different categories including three of the four Grand Slam tournaments and was followed by a season-ending Masters tournament. The circuit ran from February through November.[1]
The 1972 Grand Prix circuit ran in competition with the 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit and, to a lesser extent, with the smaller 1972 USLTA Indoor Circuit. Five American indoor tournament in February and March were als part of the USLTA Indoor Circuit.[2] In July 1971 at its annual meeting, the ILTF voted to ban all WCT contract professionals from their tournaments and facilities from the beginning of 1972 onwards. This meant that leading WCT players such as Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe and John Newcombe did not initially have permission to compete in the Grand Prix circuit and Newcombe could not defend his two consecutive Wimbledon titles of 1970 and 1971. In April 1972, however, an agreement was reached between the ILTF and WCT that divided the 1973 tour in a WCT circuit that ran from January through April and a Grand Prix circuit that was scheduled for the rest of the year.[3] Under the agreement the players contracted by the WCT could play in the Grand Prix events as of September 1972. The deal was ratified at the annual ILTF meeting in July.[4]
- ^ Bud Collins (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0942257700.
- ^ Jim Caffrey (23 January 1972). "USLTA adds Salisbury to circuit". The Baltimore Sun. p. B7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "ITF – History". International Tennis Federation (ITF). Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ^ John Barrett, ed. (1973). World of Tennis '73. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 13–15. ISBN 9780671216238.