U.S. Pro Tennis Championships

American's first prominent professional player, Vincent Richards, 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.^[4][5] Richards, tour pro Howard Kinsey 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.^[5]

The tournament was held annually at various locations, including the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York City; the South Shore Tennis Club in Chicago; in Rye, New York; at the Terrace Club 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 in Cleveland. In 1951, two U.S. Pro events were held, one at Cleveland won by Frank Kovacs and another at Forest Hills won by Pancho Segura. In 1954, the USPLTA 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.^[6] 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 in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where it was held from 1964 to 1999. It became part of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour shortly after the advent of open tennis in 1968. From 1970 to 1977, it was a prominent tournament of the Grand Prix Super Series. It then became a tennis event within the ATP Tour 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. 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 holds the record for most wins with nine, two of those wins in the multiple year of 1954.^[5][7]

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score	Venue	Surface
Professional era
1927	Vincent Richards	Howard Kinsey	11–9, 6–4, 6–3	Notlek Tennis Club, Manhattan	Grass
1928	Vinny Richards	Karel Koželuh	8–6, 6–3, 0–6, 6–2	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1929	Karel Koželuh	Vinny Richards	6–4, 6–4, 4–6, 4–6, 7–5	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1930	Vinny Richards	Karel Koželuh	2–6, 10–8, 6–3, 6–4	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1931	Bill Tilden	Vinny Richards	7–5, 6–2, 6–1	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1932	Karel Koželuh	Hans Nüsslein	6–2, 6–2, 7–5	South Shore Country Club	Clay
1933	Vinny Richards	Frank Hunter	6–3, 6–0, 6–2	Westchester Country Club	Grass
1934	Hans Nüsslein	Karel Koželuh	6–4, 6–2, 1–6, 7–5	South Shore Country Club	Clay
1935	Bill Tilden	Karel Koželuh	0–6, 6–1, 6–4, 0–6, 6–4	Terrace Club, Brooklyn	Clay
1936	Joe Whalen	Charles Wood	4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3	Tudor City Tennis Club, New York	Clay
1937[a]	Karel Koželuh	Bruce Barnes	6–2, 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–1	Greenbrier	Clay
1938	Fred Perry	Bruce Barnes	6–3, 6–2, 6–4	Chicago Arena	Canvas (i)
1939	Ellsworth Vines	Fred Perry	8–6, 6–8, 6–1, 20–18	Beverly Hills Tennis Club	Hard
1940	Don Budge	Fred Perry	6–3, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3	Chicago Town and Tennis Club	Clay
1941	Fred Perry	Dick Skeen	6–4, 6–8, 6–2, 6–3	Chicago Town and Tennis Club	Clay
1942	Don Budge	Bobby Riggs	6–2, 6–2, 6–2	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1943	Bruce Barnes	John Nogrady	6–1, 7–9, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3	Fort Knox	Clay
1944	not held
1945	Welby Van Horn	John Nogrady	6–4, 6–2, 6–2	Rips Tennis Courts, Manhattan	Clay
1946	Bobby Riggs	Don Budge	6–3, 6–1, 6–1	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1947	Bobby Riggs	Don Budge	3–6, 6–3, 10–8, 4–6, 6–3	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1948	Jack Kramer	Bobby Riggs	14–12, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1949	Bobby Riggs	Don Budge	9–7, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1950	Pancho Segura	Frank Kovacs	6–1, 1–6, 8–6, 4–4 ret.	Skating Club, Cleveland	Clay (i)
1951	Frank Kovacs	Pancho Segura	6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 1–6, 9–7	Lakewood, Cleveland	Cement (i)
1951[b][c]	Pancho Segura	Pancho Gonzales	6–3, 6–4, 6–2r[31]	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1952	Pancho Segura	Pancho Gonzales	3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, 6–0	Lakewood, Cleveland	Cement (i)
1953	Pancho Gonzales	Don Budge	4–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–2	Lakewood, Cleveland	Cement (i)
1954	Pancho Gonzales	Frank Sedgman	6-3, 9-7, 3-6, 6-2	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland	Hard (i)
1954[d]	Pancho Gonzales	Pancho Segura	6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4[37]	Los Angeles Tennis Club	Cement
1955[e]	Pancho Gonzales	Pancho Segura	21–16, 19–21, 21–8, 20–22, 21–19v	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1956	Pancho Gonzales	Pancho Segura	21–15, 13–21, 21–14, 22–20v	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
*1956	Pauline Betz	Doris Hart	21-16, 19-21, 21-12	Cleveland Arena (Women's event)	Hard (i)
1957	Pancho Gonzales	Pancho Segura	6–3, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1958	Pancho Gonzales	Lew Hoad	3–6, 4–6, 14–12, 6–1, 6–4	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1959	Pancho Gonzales	Lew Hoad	6–4, 6–2, 6–4	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1960	Alex Olmedo	Tony Trabert	7–5, 6–4	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
*1960	Althea Gibson	Pauline Betz	7-5, 2-6, 6-5	Cleveland Arena (Women's event)	Hard (i)
1961	Pancho Gonzales	Frank Sedgman	6–3, 7–5	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1962	Butch Buchholz	Pancho Segura	6–4, 6–3, 6–4	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1963	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6–4, 6–2, 6–2	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1964	Rod Laver	Pancho Gonzales	4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1965	Ken Rosewall	Rod Laver	6–4, 6–3, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1966	Rod Laver	Ken Rosewall	6–4, 4–6, 6–2, 8–10, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1967	Rod Laver	Andrés Gimeno	4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–5	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
Open Era
1968	Rod Laver	John Newcombe	6–4, 6–4, 9–7	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1969	Rod Laver	John Newcombe	7–5, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1970	Tony Roche	Rod Laver	3–6, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1971	Ken Rosewall	Cliff Drysdale	6–4, 6–3, 6–0	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1972	Bob Lutz	Tom Okker	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1973[38]	Jimmy Connors	Arthur Ashe	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1974	Björn Borg	Tom Okker	7–6, 6–1, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1975	Björn Borg	Guillermo Vilas	6–3, 6–4, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1976	Björn Borg	Harold Solomon	6–7, 6–4, 6–1, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1977	Manuel Orantes	Eddie Dibbs	7–6, 7–5, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1978	Manuel Orantes	Harold Solomon	6–4, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1979	José Higueras	Hans Gildemeister	6–3, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1980	Eddie Dibbs	José Luis Clerc	6–2, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1981	José Luis Clerc	Hans Gildemeister	0–6, 6–2, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1982	Guillermo Vilas	Mel Purcell	6–4, 6–0	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1983	José Luis Clerc	Jimmy Arias	6–3, 3–6, 6–0	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1984	Aaron Krickstein	José Luis Clerc	7–6, 3–6, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1985	Mats Wilander	Martín Jaite	6–2, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1986	Andrés Gómez	Martín Jaite	7–5, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1987	Mats Wilander	Kent Carlsson	7–6, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1988	Thomas Muster	Lawson Duncan	6–2, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1989	Andrés Gómez	Mats Wilander	6–1, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1990[f]	Martín Jaite	Libor Němeček	7–5, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1991	Andrés Gómez	Andrei Cherkasov	7–5, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1992	Ivan Lendl	Richey Reneberg	6–3, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1993	Ivan Lendl	Todd Martin	5–7, 6–3, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1994	Ivan Lendl	MaliVai Washington	7–5, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1995	not completed due to rain
1996	not held
1997	Sjeng Schalken	Marcelo Ríos	7–5, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1998	Michael Chang	Paul Haarhuis	6–3, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1999	Marat Safin	Greg Rusedski	6–4, 7–6(13–11)	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard

Notes:

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score	Venue	Surface
Professional era
1927	no doubles event			Notlek Tennis Club, Manhattan	Grass
1928	no doubles event			West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1929	Karel Koželuh Vincent Richards	Wallace Johnson Howard Kinsey	5–7, 6–1, 6–3, 6–1	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1930	Howard Kinsey Vincent Richards	Karel Koželuh Roman Najuch	6–2, 15–13, 7–5	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1931	Howard Kinsey Vincent Richards	Frank Hunter Bill Tilden	7–9, 7–5, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1932	Bruce Barnes Bill Tilden	Albert Burke Karel Koželuh	6–2, 6–1, 6–3	South Shore Country Club	Clay
1933	Vincent Richards Charles Wood	Frank Hunter Theodore Rericha	6–4, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3	Westchester Country Club	Grass
1934	Bruce Barnes Emmett Paré	Paul Heston Ellsworth Vines	6–1, 6–4, 7–5	South Shore Country Club	Clay
1935	George Lott Lester Stoefen	Morty Bernstein Alfred Chapin	6–2, 6–3, 6–3	Terrace Club, Brooklyn	Clay
1936	Harold Blauer Charles Wood	William Ellis William Kenney	6–4, 4–1, 6–2[39]	Tudor City Tennis Club, New York	Clay
1937	George Lott Vincent Richards	Bruce Barnes Karel Koželuh	1–6, 6–8, 6–3, 7–5, 9–7	Greenbrier	Clay
1938	Fred Perry Vincent Richards	Bruce Barnes Berkeley Bell	6–4, 2–6, 7–5, 13–11	Chicago Arena	Canvas (i)
1939	Bruce Barnes Keith Gledhill	Fred Perry Ellsworth Vines	6–2, 7–5, 11–9	Beverly Hills Tennis Club	Hard
1940	Don Budge Fred Perry	Vincent Richards Bill Tilden	7–5, 6–3, 9–7[40]	Chicago Town and Tennis Club	Clay
1941	Don Budge Fred Perry	Keith Gledhill Lester Stoefen	6–4, 6–4, 6–3	Chicago Town and Tennis Club	Clay
1942	Don Budge Bobby Riggs	Bruce Barnes Frank Kovacs	2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1943	Bruce Barnes Gene Mako	Berkeley Bell John Nogrady	6–4, 6–0, 6–0	Fort Knox	Clay
1944	not held
1945	Vincent Richards Bill Tilden	Dick Skeen Welby Van Horn	7–5, 6–4, 6–2	Rips Tennis Courts, Manhattan	Clay
1946	Frank Kovacs Fred Perry	Bobby Riggs Welby Van Horn	1–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4[41]	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1947	Don Budge Bobby Riggs	Frank Kovacs Fred Perry	7–5, 9–7, 4–6, 11–9	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1948	Jack Kramer Pancho Segura	Don Budge Bobby Riggs	4–6, 5–7, 6–2, 7–5, 8–6	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1949	Don Budge Frank Kovacs	Carl Earn John Faunce	6–2, 6–2, 6–4	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1950	Frank Kovacs Welby Van Horn	Frank Parker Pancho Segura	1–6, 6–4, 6–4	Skating Club, Cleveland	Clay (i)
1951	no doubles event			Lakewood, Cleveland	Cement (i)
1951	Pancho Gonzales Pancho Segura	Frank Parker Bobby Riggs		West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1952	no doubles event			Lakewood, Cleveland	Cement (i)
1953	Don Budge Pancho Gonzales	Carl Earn Bob Rogers[42]	6–1, 6–4	Lakewood, Cleveland	Cement (i)
1954	Pancho Gonzales Pancho Segura	Don Budge Frank Sedgman	11-9, 3-6, 6-3	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland	Hard (i)
1954	Frank Sedgman Jack Kramer	Pancho Gonzales Pancho Segura	6–2, 6–2, 6–4[43]	Los Angeles Tennis Club	Cement
1955	Jack Kramer Pancho Segura	Don Budge Pancho Gonzales	24–22, 21–16, 21–18[44]	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1956	Rex Hartwig Tony Trabert	Pancho Gonzales Pancho Segura	18–21, 21–11, 21–14, 13–21, 23–21	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1957	Pancho Gonzales Ken Rosewall	Dinny Pails Pancho Segura	6–1, 6–4	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1958	Pancho Gonzales Pancho Segura	Lew Hoad Tony Trabert	W/O	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1959	no doubles event			Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1960	Ashley Cooper Alex Olmedo	Pancho Segura Tony Trabert	6–3, 6–4	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1961	Andrés Gimeno Frank Sedgman	Pancho Gonzales Barry MacKay	7–5, 7–5	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1962	Butch Buchholz Barry MacKay	Don Budge Pancho Segura	6–2, 6–3	Cleveland Arena	Hard (i)
1963	Rod Laver Ken Rosewall	Butch Buchholz Alex Olmedo	10–8, 8–6, 6–4	West Side Tennis Club	Grass
1964	no doubles event			Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1965	no doubles event			Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1966	Butch Buchholz Rod Laver	Lew Hoad Ken Rosewall	6–4, 2–6, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1967	Dennis Ralston Ken Rosewall	Pierre Barthès Andrés Gimeno	16–14, 7–5	Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
Open Era
1968	no doubles event			Longwood Cricket Club	Grass
1969	Pancho Gonzales Rod Laver	John Newcombe Tony Roche	6–4, 5–7, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1970	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	Ismail El Shafei Torben Ulrich	6–1, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1971	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	Tom Okker Marty Riessen	6–4, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1972	John Newcombe Tony Roche	Arthur Ashe Bob Lutz	6–3, 1–6, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1973	Stan Smith Erik van Dillen	Ismail El Shafei Marty Riessen	4–6, 6–4, 7–5	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1974	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	Hans-Jürgen Pohmann Marty Riessen	3–6, 6–4, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1975	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	John Andrews Mike Estep	4–6, 6–3, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1976	Ray Ruffels Allan Stone	Mike Cahill John Whitlinger	3–6, 6–3, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1977	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	Brian Gottfried Bob Hewitt	6–3, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1978	Víctor Pecci Balázs Taróczy	Heinz Günthardt Van Winitsky	6–3, 3–6, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1979	Syd Ball Kim Warwick	Heinz Günthardt Pavel Složil	not played	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1980	Gene Mayer Sandy Mayer	Hans Gildemeister Andrés Gómez	1–6, 6–4, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1981	Raúl Ramírez Pavel Složil	Hans Gildemeister Andrés Gómez	6–4, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1982	Craig Wittus Steve Meister	Freddie Sauer Schalk van der Merwe	6–2, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1983	Mark Dickson Cássio Motta	Hans Gildemeister Belus Prajoux	7–5, 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1984	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	Gary Donnelly Ernie Fernandez	6–4, 6–4	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1985	Libor Pimek Slobodan Živojinović	Peter McNamara Paul McNamee	2–6, 6–4, 7–6	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1986	Hans Gildemeister Andrés Gómez	Dan Cassidy Mel Purcell	4–6, 7–5, 6–0	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1987	Hans Gildemeister Andrés Gómez	Mats Wilander Joakim Nyström	7–6, 3–6, 6–1	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1988	Jorge Lozano Todd Witsken	Bruno Orešar Jaime Yzaga	6–2, 7–5	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1989	Andrés Gómez Alberto Mancini	Todd Nelson Phil Williamson	7–6, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Clay
1990–96	not held
1997	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	Dave Randall Jack Waite	6–3, 7–6(7–3)	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1998	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	Chris Haggard Jack Waite	6–3, 6–2	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard
1999	Guillermo Cañas Martín García	Marius Barnard T.J. Middleton	5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–3	Longwood Cricket Club	Hard

Source:^[45]

• U.S. Pro Tennis Championships draws, 1927–1945
• U.S. Pro Tennis Championships draws, 1946–1967
• French Pro Championship
• Wembley Championships
• Major professional tennis tournaments before the Open Era

• McCauley, Joe (2000). The History of Professional Tennis. Windsor: The Short Run Book Company Limited.