The 1981 Volvo Grand Prix was the only men's professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Grand Prix tournaments. The World Championship Tennis (WCT) Tour was incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit. The WCT tour consisted of eight regular tournaments, a season's final, three tournaments categorized as special events and a doubles championship. In total 89 tournaments were held divided over 29 countries. The circuit was administered by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC).
The table below shows the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix schedule (precursor to the ATP Tour).
The tournaments listed above were divided into twelve point categories. The highest points were allocated to the Grand Slam tournaments; French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, the US Open and the Australian Open. Points were allocated based on these categories and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. The points table is based on a 32 player draw. No points were awarded to first-round losers and advancements by default were equal to winning a round. The points allocation, with doubles points listed in brackets, is as follows:
The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name:
Björn Borg (3) French Open, Stuttgart Outdoor, Geneva José Luis Clerc (6) Florence, Rome, Boston, Washington, D.C., North Conway, Indianapolis Jimmy Connors (4) La Quinta, Brussels, Rotterdam, Wembley Kevin Curren (1) Johannesburg Eddie Dibbs (2) Forest Hills WCT, Quito Mark Edmondson (3) Adelaide, Bristol, Brisbane Wojciech Fibak (1) Gstaad Jaime Fillol (1) Mexico City John Fitzgerald (1) Kitzbühel Vitas Gerulaitis (1) Johannesburg Sammy Giammalva (1) Napa Hans Gildemeister (1) Santiago Shlomo Glickstein (1) South Orange Andrés Gómez (1) Bordeaux Brian Gottfried (1) Stowe Johan Kriek (3) Monterrey WCT, Newport, Australian Open Ramesh Krishnan (1) Manila Ivan Lendl (8) Stuttgart Indoor, Las Vegas, Montreal, Barcelona, Basel, Vienna, Cologne, Buenos Aires Chris Lewis (1) Munich Mario Martínez (1) Venice Gene Mayer (4) Memphis, Denver, Cleveland, Stockholm Sandy Mayer (1) Bologna John McEnroe (9) Boca Raton, Milan, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Dallas WCT, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, US Open, Sydney Indoor Peter McNamara (2) Hamburg, Melbourne Indoor Richard Meyer (1) Sofia Yannick Noah (2) Richmond WCT, Nice Gianni Ocleppo (1) Linz Manuel Orantes (1) Palermo Marko Ostoja (1) Brussels Víctor Pecci (2) Viña del Mar, Bournemouth Mel Purcell (3) Tampa, Atlanta, Tel Aviv Bill Scanlon (2) Auckland, Bangkok Pavel Složil (1) Nancy Roscoe Tanner (1) Philadelphia Balázs Taróczy (3) Monte Carlo, Hilversum, Tokyo Outdoor Brian Teacher (1) Columbus Eliot Teltscher (2) Puerto Rico, San Francisco Thierry Tulasne (1) Båstad Vince Van Patten (1) Tokyo Indoor Robert Van't Hof (1) Taiwan Guillermo Vilas (3) Mar del Plata, Cairo, Houston Mark Vines (1) Bercy Tim Wilkison (1) Sydney Outdoor Van Winitsky (1) Hong KongThe following players won their first title in 1981:
Kevin Curren Johannesburg John Fitzgerald Kitzbühel Sammy Giammalva Napa Andrés Gómez Bordeaux Ramesh Krishnan Manila Mel Purcell Tampa Pavel Složil Nancy Thierry Tulasne Båstad
