1972 Grand Prix (tennis)

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.

Contents

• Schedule
• November
• Points distribution
• Standings
• List of tournament winners
• References

The 1972 Grand Prix circuit ran in competition with the 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit as well as the smaller 1972 USLTA Indoor Circuit. 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. 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.