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Richmond WCT

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Richmond WCT
Defunct tennis tournament
Event nameFidelity Bankers Invitational
United Virginia Bank Tennis Classic
TourILTF World Circuit (1966–1971)
WCT Tour (1972–1984)
Grand Prix (1978–1981)
Founded1966
Abolished1984
Editions19
LocationRichmond, Virginia
VenueRichmond Arena
Richmond Coliseum
Robins Center
SurfaceCarpet / indoor

The Richmond WCT, also known by its sponsored names Fidelity Bankers Invitational and United Virginia Bank Tennis Classic, was a men's tennis tournament played in Richmond, Virginia in the United States founded in 1966 as the Richmond Invitational Indoor Championships .[1] The inaugural edition in February 1966 was a two-day event with eight player and without prize money. The first six editions, from 1966 through 1971, were invitational tournaments and were held at the Richmond Arena. The 1970 edition was the first one to offer prize money, namely $12,500. In 1972 the event became part of the World Championship Tennis (WCT) Tour[a] and moved to the Richmond Coliseum.[2] All subsequent editions were held at the Coliseum except for the 1983 edition which was held at the Robins Center.[3] All editions were held on indoor carpet courts. Lou Einwick was the tournament chairman or director for all editions.

Finals

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Singles

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Year Champion Runner-up Score
1966 United States Chuck McKinley United States Frank Froehling 6–1, 6–2
1967 United States Charlie Pasarell United States Arthur Ashe 6–3, 8–6
1968 United States Arthur Ashe United States Chuck McKinley 6–2, 6–1
1969 United States Clark Graebner Brazil Thomaz Koch 6–3, 10–12, 9–7
1970 United States Arthur Ashe (2) United States Stan Smith 6–2, 13–11
1971 Romania Ilie Năstase United States Arthur Ashe 3–6, 6–2, 6–4
1972 Australia Rod Laver South Africa Cliff Drysdale 2–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–3
1973 Australia Rod Laver (2) Australia Roy Emerson 6–4, 6–3
1974 Romania Ilie Năstase United States Tom Gorman 6–2, 6–3
1975 Sweden Björn Borg United States Arthur Ashe 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
1976 United States Arthur Ashe (3) United States Brian Gottfried 6–2, 6–4
1977 Netherlands Tom Okker United States Vitas Gerulaitis 3–6, 6–3, 6–4
1978 United States Vitas Gerulaitis Australia John Newcombe 6–3, 6–4
1979 Sweden Björn Borg (2) Argentina Guillermo Vilas 6–3, 6–1
1980 United States John McEnroe United States Roscoe Tanner 6–1, 6–2
1981 France Yannick Noah Czech Republic Ivan Lendl 6–1, 3–1, RET.
1982 Argentina José Luis Clerc United States Fritz Buehning 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3
1983 Argentina Guillermo Vilas United States Steve Denton 6–3, 7–5, 6–4
1984 United States John McEnroe (2) United States Steve Denton 6–3, 7–6(9–7)

Doubles

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Year Champions Runners-up Score
1966 United States Chuck McKinley
United States Gene Scott
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Cliff Richey
6–8, 8–6, 7–5
1967 United States Arthur Ashe
United States Charlie Pasarell
South Africa Cliff Drysdale
United States Ron Holmberg
6–1, 6–4
1968 United States Arthur Ashe
United States Charlie Pasarell
United States Ron Holmberg
United States Bob Lutz
6–4, 6–4
1969 United States Bob McKinley
United States Jim McManus
United States Arthur Ashe
United States Cliff Richey
8–6, 3–6, 7–5
1970 United States Arthur Ashe
United States Charlie Pasarell
United States Jim McManus
United States Stan Smith
9–7, 6–2
1971[4] United States Arthur Ashe
United States Dennis Ralston
Australia John Newcombe
Australia Ken Rosewall
7–6, 3–6, 7–6
1972 Netherlands Tom Okker
United States Marty Riessen
Australia John Newcombe
Australia Tony Roche
7–6, 7–6
1973 Australia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver
Australia Terry Addison
Australia Colin Dibley
3–6, 6–3, 6–4
1974 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nikola Pilić
Australia Allan Stone
Australia John Alexander
Australia Phil Dent
6–3, 3–6, 7–6
1975 Austria Hans Kary
United States Fred McNair
Italy Paolo Bertolucci
Italy Adriano Panatta
7–6, 5–7, 7–6
1976 United States Brian Gottfried
Mexico Raúl Ramírez
United States Arthur Ashe
Netherlands Tom Okker
6–4, 7–5
1977 Poland Wojtek Fibak
Netherlands Tom Okker
Australia Ross Case
Australia Tony Roche
6–4, 6–4
1978 South Africa Bob Hewitt
South Africa Frew McMillan
United States Vitas Gerulaitis
United States Sandy Mayer
6–3, 7–5
1979 United States Brian Gottfried
United States John McEnroe
Romania Ion Țiriac
Argentina Guillermo Vilas
6–4, 6–3
1980 United States Fritz Buehning
South Africa Johan Kriek
United States Brian Gottfried
South Africa Frew McMillan
3–6, 6–3, 7–6
1981 United States Tim Gullikson
South Africa Bernard Mitton
United States Brian Gottfried
Mexico Raúl Ramírez
3–6, 6–2, 6–3
1982 Australia Mark Edmondson
Australia Kim Warwick
Australia Syd Ball
Germany Rolf Gehring
6–4, 6–2
1983 Czech Republic Pavel Složil
Czech Republic Tomáš Šmíd
United States Fritz Buehning
United States Brian Teacher
6–2, 6–4
1984 United States John McEnroe
United States Patrick McEnroe
United States Steve Denton
South Africa Kevin Curren
7–6, 6–2

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ From 1978 until 1981 the WCT circuit was incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit.

References

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  1. ^ "Passarell, Ashe Seeded 1 & 2 at Richmond". The Daily Times. Salisbury, Maryland: newspapers.com. 2 Feb 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  2. ^ John Packett (January 26, 1975). "Tournament developed in decade". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. F-1, F-2, F-4 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ John Packett (February 15, 1983). "Einwick pleased with tournament despite problems". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. C-2 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Nastase takes upset victory against Ashe". The Daily Times. Salisbury, Maryland. Associated Press. 1971-02-08. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
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