Date 25 June – 8 July Category Grand Slam (ITF) Prize money £52,400 | Edition 87th Draw 128S/64D/128XD Surface Grass | |
The 1973 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 25 June until 8 July. It was the 87th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1973.
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ATP boycott
In May 1973 Nikola Pilić, Yugoslavia's number one tennis player, was suspended by his national lawn tennis association, who claimed he had refused to play in a Davis Cup tie for his country against New Zealand earlier that month. The initial suspension of nine months, supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), was later reduced by the ILTF to one month which meant that Pilić would not be permitted to play at Wimbledon. The recently formed men's players union, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) stated that if Pilic was not allowed to compete none should. As a result, 81 of the top players, including reigning champion Stan Smith, boycotted Wimbledon in 1973 to protest against the suspension of Nikola Pilić. Twelve of the 16 men's seeds had withdrawn. This resulted in a large number of qualifiers and lucky losers. Three ATP players, Ilie Năstase, Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee. Despite the boycott the attendance of 300,172 was the second highest in the championships' history to that date.
Prize money
The total prize money for 1973 championships was £52,400. The winner of the men's title earned £5,000 while the women's singles champion earned £3,000.
* per team
Men's singles
Jan Kodeš defeated Alex Metreveli, 6–1, 9–8(7–5), 6–3
Women's singles
Billie Jean King defeated Chris Evert, 6–0, 7–5
Men's doubles
Jimmy Connors / Ilie Năstase defeated John Cooper / Neale Fraser, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 8–9(3–7), 6–1
Women's doubles
Rosemary Casals / Billie Jean King defeated Françoise Dürr / Betty Stöve, 6–1, 4–6, 7–5
Mixed doubles
Billie Jean King / Owen Davidson defeated Janet Newberry / Raúl Ramírez, 6–3, 6–2
King became the only player to win the 'triple crown' (Singles, Doubles & Mixed Doubles) twice in the post-war era, repeating her success of 1967.
Boys' singles
Billy Martin defeated Colin Dowdeswell, 6–2, 6–4
Girls' singles
Ann Kiyomura defeated Martina Navratilova, 6–4, 7–5