The U.S. Pro Tennis Championships (for a period from 1951 to 1962 billed as the Cleveland International Pro or Cleveland World Pro Tennis Championships) was the oldest professional tennis tournament played until its final year of 1999 and is considered to have been a professional major from 1927–1967 until the advent of

Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...

. In 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1960, the Cleveland World Pro had a women's draw, with

Pauline Betz Pauline May Betz Addie (née Betz, August 6, 1919 – May 31, 2011) was an American professional tennis player. She won five Grand Slam singles titles and was the runner-up on three other occasions. Jack Kramer called her the second best femal ...

winning the first three of these, and defeating the reigning U.S. women's champion

Doris Hart Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American tennis player who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in sing ...

in the 1956 final. Althea Gibson defeated Pauline Betz in the 1960 women's final.

History

American's first prominent professional player,

Vincent Richards Vincent Richards (March 20, 1903 – September 28, 1959) was an American tennis player. He was active in the early decades of the 20th century, particularly known as being a superlative volleyer. He was ranked World No. 2 as an amateur in 1924 b ...

, arranged what became the first U.S. Professionals by negotiating with Doc Kelton to have a tournament played at the Notlek Tennis Club, located at 119th Street and Riverside Drive in Manhattan, New York, on September 23–25, 1927. Richards, tour pro

Howard Kinsey Howard Oreon Kinsey (December 3, 1899 – July 26, 1966) was an American tennis player in the 1920s. He was originally from California. Playing record His significant championships were the 1926 French National men's doubles championship, whe ...

and teaching pros from the eastern U.S. comprised the field, with Richards defeating Kinsey in the final in straight sets, a victory which earned him $1,000 first-prize money. The tournament was held annually at various locations, including the

West Side Tennis Club The West Side Tennis Club is a private tennis club located in Forest Hills, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The club has 38 tennis courts in all four surfaces (clay court, Har-Tru, grass court and hardcourt), a junior ...

in Forest Hills, New York City; the South Shore Tennis Club in Chicago; in Rye, New York; at the

Terrace Club Princeton Terrace Club is one of eleven current eating clubs at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Terrace Club was founded in 1904 and is located at 62 Washington Road. It is the sole Princeton eating club located off P ...

in Brooklyn; the Chicago Town and Tennis Club in Chicago; at the L.A. Tennis Club in Los Angeles; at various clubs around Cleveland, Ohio and

Cleveland Arena Cleveland Arena was an arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built and privately financed by local businessman Albert C. Sutphin during the height of the Great Depression in 1937 as a playing site for Sutphin's AHL team, the Cleveland Barons. The ar ...

in Cleveland. In 1951, two U.S. Pro events were held, one at Cleveland won by

Frank Kovacs Frank Kovacs (December 4, 1919 – February 1990) was an American amateur and professional tennis player in the mid-20th century. He won the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships singles title in 1941. He won the World Professional Champions ...

and another at Forest Hills won by

Pancho Segura Francisco Olegario Segura Cano (June 20, 1921 – November 18, 2017), better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, ...

. In 1954, the

USPLTA The Racquet Sports Professionals Association (RSPA) is an organization that offers certification and professional development for professional racquet sports teachers and coaches. Certification is available in tennis, pickleball, squash, padel an ...

authorized Kramer to hold the U.S. Pro Championships at the L.A. Tennis Club in California, Gonzales winning the event, and the Benrus Cup (emblematic of the U.S. Pro) was awarded to Gonzales. There are two U.S. Pro events listed here for both 1951 (Cleveland and Forest Hills) and for 1954 (Cleveland and L.A. Tennis Club). Gonzales won two U.S. Pro titles in 1954. Its final permanent home was the

Longwood Cricket Club Longwood Cricket Club is a tennis and former cricket club based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. It is the site of the first Davis Cup competition. History A club for cricket was opened in 1877 at Longwood Estate, a place named a ...

in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where it was held from 1964 to 1999. It became part of the

Grand Prix Tennis Tour The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it was administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and ran annually until 1989 when it and the rival ...

shortly after the advent of

open tennis The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...

in 1968. From 1970 to 1977, it was a prominent tournament of the

Grand Prix Super Series The Grand Prix Super Series of men's tennis tournaments was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit, Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis tours between 1978 and 1989, sometimes also referred to as the Super Grand Prix. They were held annually ...

. It then became a tennis event within the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...

with reorganization of the top tier of pro tour tennis. The tournament was later played on Har-Tru clay courts and was initially an important tune-up event for the

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

. But when this Grand Slam tournament moved to hardcourts in 1978, the U.S. Professionals did not follow suit, electing instead to hold its tournament during the US clay court season in early summer instead of during its hitherto pre-Open Era (late summer) time slot. Remaining a clay event into the 1990s, it was a non-ATP exhibition event from 1990 through 1995. During the last stint of the tournament, from 1997 to 1999, it was again an ATP event and was played on hardcourts.

Pancho Gonzales Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professi ...

holds the record for most wins with nine, two of those wins in the multiple year of 1954.

Past finals

Singles

Notes:

Doubles

Source:

References

Bibliography