The WCT Finals was a tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis

World Championship Tennis

World Championship Tennis was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990...

 circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, and final played at Moody Coliseum

Moody Coliseum

Moody Coliseum is an 8,998-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Texas. The arena opened in 1956. It is home to the Southern Methodist University Mustangs basketball team. It was also home to the Dallas Chaparrals and Texas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association before they moved...

 in Dallas. The 1972-1979 editions were played at Moody Coliseum, and the 1980-1989 tournaments at Reunion Arena

Reunion Arena

Reunion Arena was an indoor arena, in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas . It held 18,293 for basketball and 17,001 for ice hockey.It was demolished in November 2009 and the site was cleared by the end of the year.-History:...

 in Dallas. The WCT, in 1974, was the first tennis tournament to experiment with electronic line calling

Electronic line judge (tennis)

An electronic line judge is a device used in tennis to automatically detect where a ball has landed on the court. Attempts to revolutionize tennis officiating and the judging of calls in the sport began in the early 1970s and has resulted in the design, development and prototyping of several...

The first edition of the WCT Finals in 1971 was played in November, just a few days before The Masters, the equivalent of the WCT Finals for the rival Grand Prix circuit

Grand Prix tennis tournaments

The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. It was the more prominent of two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, the other being World Championship Tennis ....

. Because of TV pressure, the second edition was held in May 1972 and most of the following editions were organized in between months of March and May.

In 1972 another edition, less important and with half the prize money, was held in November in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. The prize money offered to the winner, Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...

, was US$25,000 compared to the US$50,000 won by Ken Rosewall

Ken Rosewall

Kenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam...

 for the main edition in May. A decade later there were three editions of the WCT Finals; the most important one in Dallas, and the others in autumn in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and in winter (in January 1983) in Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

.
John McEnroe

John McEnroe

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...

 was the most successful player winning a record five titles out of eight final appearances.

Sponsorship

Between 1985 and 1986 this event was sponsored by Buick

Buick

Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...

 a brand of General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 and was called the Buick WCT Finals

Results

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1971 1971 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1971 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 1st edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1971 World Championship Tennis circuit...	Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam...	Rod Laver Rod Laver Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...	6–4, 1–6, 7–6, 7–6
1972 1972 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1972 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 2nd edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit...	Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam...	Rod Laver Rod Laver Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...	4–6, 6–0, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6
1973 1973 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1973 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 3rd edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1973 World Championship Tennis circuit...	Stan Smith Stan Smith Stanley Roger "Stan" Smith is a former American tennis player and two time Grand Slam singles champion who also, with his partner Bob Lutz, formed one of the most successful doubles teams of all time. Together, they won many major titles all over the world...	Arthur Ashe Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...	6–3, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4
1974 1974 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1974 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 4th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1974 World Championship Tennis circuit...	John Newcombe John Newcombe John David Newcombe, AO, OBE is a former World No. 1 tennis player.-Biography:He won seven Grand Slam singles titles, A natural athlete, Newcombe played several sports as a boy until devoting himself to tennis. He was the Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962, and 1963 and was a member of...	Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...	4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–2
1975 1975 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1975 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 5th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1975 World Championship Tennis circuit...	Arthur Ashe Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...	Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...	3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–0
1976 1976 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1976 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 6th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1976 World Championship Tennis circuit...	Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...	Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Apolinario Vilas is a retired and former World No. 2 professional tennis player from Argentina. He was the second Latin-American to win a Grand Slam tournament.-Career:...	1–6, 6–1, 7–5, 6–1
1977 1977 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1977 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 7th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1977 World Championship Tennis circuit...	Jimmy Connors Jimmy Connors James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....	Dick Stockton Dick Stockton (tennis) Dick Stockton , was a professional tennis player from the United States. He is currently the head coach of the men's tennis team at the University of Virginia....	6–7, 6–1, 6–4, 6–3
1978 1978 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1978 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 8th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix, as the World Championship Tennis and the Grand Prix circuits were now combined...	Vitas Gerulaitis Vitas Gerulaitis Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was a Lithuanian–American professional tennis player. He is known for winning the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Gerulaitis won the tournament held in December, while Roscoe Tanner won the earlier January tournament...	Eddie Dibbs Eddie Dibbs Eddie Dibbs is a retired American tennis player. He attained a career high ranking of World No. 5 in July 1978.-Wins :-Runner-ups :-Grand Slam singles tournament timeline:...	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
1979 1979 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1979 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 9th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...	7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–6
1980 1980 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1980 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 10th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1980 Volvo Grand Prix...	Jimmy Connors Jimmy Connors James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	2–6, 7–6, 6–1, 6–2
1981 1981 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1981 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 11th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	Johan Kriek Johan Kriek Johan Kriek is a South African American professional male tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. Kriek has won two Australian Opens and has reached the semi-finals at the French...	6–1, 6–2, 6–4
1982 1982 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1982 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 12th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1982 World Championship Tennis circuit since World Championship Tennis had split from the Grand Prix tennis circuit...	Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3
1983 1983 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1983 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 13th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1983 World Championship Tennis circuit...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...	6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6
1984 1984 World Championship Tennis Finals The 1984 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 14th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1984 World Championship Tennis circuit...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	Jimmy Connors Jimmy Connors James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....	6–1, 6–2, 6–3
1985 1985 Buick WCT Finals The 1985 Buick WCT Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 15th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1985 Nabisco Grand Prix, as the two organisations had reunited...	Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...	Tim Mayotte Tim Mayotte Timothy "Tim" Mayotte is a former professional tennis player from the United States.- Career :...	7–6, 6–4, 6–1
1986 1986 Buick WCT Finals The 1986 Buick WCT Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 16th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1986 Nabisco Grand Prix...	Anders Järryd Anders Järryd Anders Per Järryd is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. During his career he won eight Grand Slam doubles titles , reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 5.Järryd was born in Lidköping, Västra Götaland...	Boris Becker Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...	6–7, 6–1, 6–1, 6–4
1987 1987 WCT Finals The 1987 WCT Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 17th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1987 Nabisco Grand Prix...	Miloslav Mečíř Miloslav Mecír Miloslav Mečíř is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games where he represented Czechoslovakia and played in two Grand Slam singles finals...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
1988 1988 WCT Finals The 1988 WCT Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 18th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1988 Nabisco Grand Prix...	Boris Becker Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...	Stefan Edberg Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Sweden. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He also won one season ending championship title the Masters Grand Prix...	6–4, 1–6, 7–5, 6–2
1989 1989 WCT Finals The 1989 WCT Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 19th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1989 Nabisco Grand Prix...	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...	Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert , is an American tennis coach, a television tennis commentator, an author and former professional tennis player. He was born in Oakland, California and graduated from Piedmont High School ....	6–3, 6–3, 7–6

Seasonal finals events

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1972 winter 1972 World Championship Tennis Winter Finals The 1972 World Championship Tennis Winter Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 1st edition of the WCT Winter Finals and was part of the 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit...  (Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... )	Arthur Ashe Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...	Bob Lutz	6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6
1982 fall 1982 World Championship Tennis Fall Finals The 1982 World Championship Tennis Fall Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the only edition of the World Championship Tennis Fall Finals and was part of the 1982 World Championship Tennis circuit...  (Naples Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples... )	Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...	Wojciech Fibak Wojciech Fibak Wojciech Fibak or shorter Wojtek Fibak is a former Polish tennis player best known for his doubles success with Tom Okker and Kim Warwick....	6–4, 6–2, 6–1
1982 winter 1982 World Championship Tennis Winter Finals The 1982 World Championship Tennis Winter Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 2nd edition of the World Championship Tennis Winter Finals and was part of the 1982 World Championship Tennis circuit...  (Detroit Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River... )	Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...	Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Apolinario Vilas is a retired and former World No. 2 professional tennis player from Argentina. He was the second Latin-American to win a Grand Slam tournament.-Career:...	7–5, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4