The 1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

circuit held that year. It consisted of four Grand Slam tournaments, the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

tournaments and the Nations Cup, a team event. In addition eight

World Championship Tennis World Championship Tennis (WCT) was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 (the first players signed a contract at the end of 1967) and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990. A number of tennis tournaments aro ...

(WCT) tournaments, a separate professional tennis circuit held from 1971 through 1977, were incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit. The 28 tournaments with prize money of $175,000 or more formed the

Super Series The Super Series were exhibition games between Soviet teams and NHL teams that took place on the NHL opponents' home ice in North America from 1976 to 1991. The Soviet teams were usually club teams from the Soviet hockey league. The exception ...

category.

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

won 10 of the 84 tournaments which secured him the first place in the Grand Prix points ranking. However he did not play enough tournaments (13) to qualify for largest share ($300,000) of the bonus pool, which instead went to third–ranked Eddie Dibbs.

Schedule

The table below shows the 1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix schedule (a forerunner to the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January 1979

Points system

The tournaments of the 1978 Grand Prix circuit were divided into nine point categories. The highest points were allocated to the Grand Slam tournaments; French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, the US Open and the Australian Open. The eight WCT events were part of the $175,000-plus "Super Grand Prix" category. 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:

ATP rankings

''*The official ATP year-end rankings were listed from January 1st, 1979.''

List of tournament winners

The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name: *

Vijay Amritraj Vijay Amritraj (born 14 December 1953) is an Indian sports commentator, actor and retired professional tennis player from Madras. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, in 1983.In 2022, he was honored for his cont ...

(1) Mexico City *

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

(3) San Jose, Columbus, Los Angeles *

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at ...

(9) Birmingham WCT, Boca Raton, Las Vegas, Milan WCT, Rome, French Open, Wimbledon, Båstad, Tokyo Indoor *

José Luis Clerc José Luis Clerc (born 16 August 1958) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 3 August 1981, following a run of 25 consecutive mat ...

(3) Florence, Buenos Aires, Santiago *

(10) Philadelphia, Denver, Memphis, Rotterdam WCT, Birmingham, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Stowe, US Open, Sydney Indoor * Eddie Dibbs (4) Tulsa, Cincinnati, North Conway, Toronto *

Cliff Drysdale Eric Clifford Drysdale (born 26 May 1941) is a South African former tennis player. After a career as a highly ranked professional player in the 1960s and early 1970s, he became a well-known tennis announcer. Drysdale won the singles title at ...

(1) Baltimore *

Mark Edmondson Mark Edmondson (born 28 June 1954 in Gosford, New South Wales) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. Edmondson won the 1976 Australian Open while ranked 212th in the world, and remains the lowest-ranked winner of a Grand Slam ...

(1) Brisbane *

Peter Feigl Peter Feigl (born 30 November 1951) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was a quarterfinalist in the 1978 Australian Open, defeating Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former world t ...

(1) Cleveland *

Wojciech Fibak Wojciech Fibak (; popularly Wojtek Fibak ; born 30 August 1952) is a former professional tennis player and Polish entrepreneur and art collector. Fibak is best known for his doubles success with Dutch pro Tom Okker and Australian Kim Warwick, ...

(1) Cologne * Peter Fleming (1) Bologna *

Vitas Gerulaitis Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis (July 26, 1954 – September 17, 1994) was an American professional tennis player, known as Vitas Gerulaitis. In 1975, he won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering with Sandy Mayer. He won the men's singles ...

(3) Richmond WCT, Dallas WCT, Forest Hills WCT *

Brian Gottfried Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is a retired American tennis player who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career. He was the runner-up in singles at the 1977 French Open, won the 1975 and 1977 Fren ...

(3) Washington Indoor, Dayton, Houston *

Tim Gullikson Timothy Ernest Gullikson (September 8, 1951 – May 3, 1996) was a tennis player and coach who was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and grew up in Onalaska, Wisconsin in the United States. Gullikson was Pete Sampras' coach from 1992 to 1995. Tennis ...

(1) Johannesburg *

Heinz Günthardt Heinz Peter Günthardt (born 8 February 1959) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. Tennis player career Günthardt won five singles titles during his professional career, including the Rotterdam WCT in 1980. The right-hander reached hi ...

(1) Springfield *

José Higueras José Higueras (; born 1 March 1953) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Spain. Between 1976 and 1984, Higueras won 16 top-level singles titles. A semi-finalist at the French Open in 1982 and 1983, he reached a career ...

(4) Cairo, Nice, Bournemouth, Madrid * Kjell Johansson (1) Nigeria * Chris Lewis (1) Kitzbühel * Robert Lutz (1) Bercy *

Gene Mayer Gene Mayer (born May 11, 1956) is a former tennis player from the United States who won 14 professional singles titles during his career. Mayer was born in Flushing, Queens, New York. He grew up in Wayne, New Jersey, and played tennis at Wayn ...

(1) Guadalajara *

Sandy Mayer Alexander "Sandy" Mayer (born April 5, 1952) is a former tennis player from the United States. He won twelve titles in singles and twenty-four titles in doubles in his professional career, and was part of the winning tennis squad at Stanford Uni ...

(1) St. Louis WCT *

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beh ...

(4) Hartford, San Francisco, Stockholm, Wembley *

Bernard Mitton Bernard Mitton (9 November 1954 – 5 May 2017) was a professional tennis player from South Africa. Mitton reached his highest singles ranking of world No. 51 on 15 December 1975, and his highest doubles ranking of 20 on 25 June 1984. His car ...

(1) Newport *

Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (, born 19 July 1946) is a former World No. 1 Romanian tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the top position on the computerized ATP rankin ...

(2) Miami, WCT Challenge Cup *

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade ...

(2) Manila, Calcutta *

Manuel Orantes Manuel Orantes Corral (; born 6 February 1949) is a former tennis player from Spain who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. He won the US Open men's singles title in 1975, beating defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final. Orantes reached ...

(1) Boston *

Adriano Panatta Adriano Panatta (born 9 July 1950) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. He won the French Open in 1976, and was the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, doing so on two occasions. He is also the only Italian man ...

(1) Tokyo Outdoor *

Víctor Pecci Víctor Pecci Sr. (born October 15, 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Paraguay. He was ranked as high as world No. 9 in singles in 1980 and world No. 31 in doubles in 1984. Pecci is famous for reaching the 1979 French Open final. ...

(1) Bogotá * Ulrich Pinner (1) Stuttgart Outdoor *

Raúl Ramírez Raúl Ramírez (born 20 June 1953) is a Mexican retired professional tennis player. He was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Ramírez was the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing th ...

(2) Mexico City WCT, Monte Carlo WCT *

Cliff Richey George Clifford Richey Jr. (born December 31, 1946) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Richey achieved a highest singles ranking of World No. 6 and reached at least the quarter ...

(1) Johannesburg *

Tony Roche Anthony Dalton Roche AO MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player. A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga Wagga. He won one Grand Slam singles title, t ...

(1) Queen's Club *

Bill Scanlon William Neil Scanlon (November 13, 1956 – June 2, 2021) was a tennis player from the United States, who won seven singles and two doubles titles during his 13-year professional career. The right-hander reached his career-high ATP singles ...

(1) Maui *

Tomáš Šmíd Tomáš Šmíd (born 20 May 1956) is a former tennis player from Czechoslovakia, who won nine singles titles during his career. In doubles, he won 54 titles and was world No. 1 in doubles from December 17, 1984 to August 11, 1985. The right-hande ...

(1) Sarasota *

Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. Smith is best known to non-tennis players as the namesake of a popular brand of tennis shoes. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles cha ...

(2) Atlanta, Vienna *

Harold Solomon Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the cours ...

(2) Las Vegas, Louisville *

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV. ...

(1) Little Rock * Roscoe Tanner (2) Palm Springs, New Orleans *

Balázs Taróczy Balázs Taróczy ( hu, Taróczy Balázs; born 9 May 1954) is a retired tennis player from Hungary. The right-hander won 13 singles titles in his career, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in April 1982. Tennis career Ta ...

(2) Hilversum, Barcelona *

Brian Teacher Brian David Teacher (born December 23, 1954) is a former American professional male tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking World No. 7 in 1981. Teacher is best remembered for his singles championship at the Australian Open in 1980. Hi ...

(1) Taiwan *

Eliot Teltscher Eliot Teltscher (born March 15, 1959) is a retired professional American tennis player. He won the 1983 French Open Mixed Doubles. His highest ranking in singles was #6 in the world and in doubles was #38 in the world. Tennis career Early year ...

(1) Hong Kong * Guillermo Vilas (7) Hamburg, Munich, Gstaad, South Orange, Aix-en-Provence, Basel, Australian Open * Tim Wilkison (1) Sydney Outdoor *

Vladimír Zedník Vladimír Zedník (born 1 February 1947) is a former professional tennis player who represented Czechoslovakia.Vladim ...

(1) Berlin * Werner Zirngibl (1) Brussels The following players won their first title in 1978: *

Florence *

Cleveland * Peter Fleming Bologna *

Springfield * Kjell Johansson Nigeria *

Guadalajara *

Hartford *

Newport *

Manila * Ulrich Pinner Stuttgart Outdoor *

Sarasota *

Hong Kong * Tim Wilkison Sydney Outdoor

References

External links

1978 ATP tournament archive

ATP – History men's professional tours