| 1973 Wimbledon Championships | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 25 June – 8 July | |||
| Edition | 87th | |||
| Category | Grand Slam | |||
| Draw | 128S / 64D / 128X | |||
| Prize money | £52,400 | |||
| Surface | Grass | |||
| Location | Church Road SW19,Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom | |||
| Venue | All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club | |||
| Champions | ||||
| Men's singles | ||||
 Jan Kodeš | ||||
| Women's singles | ||||
 Billie Jean King | ||||
| Men's doubles | ||||
Jimmy Connors / Ilie Năstase | ||||
| Women's doubles | ||||
| Rosie Casals /Billie Jean King | ||||
| Mixed doubles | ||||
 Owen Davidson /Billie Jean King | ||||
| Boys' singles | ||||
| Billy Martin | ||||
| Girls' singles | ||||
| Ann Kiyomura | ||||
| ||||
The1973 Wimbledon Championships was atennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at theAll England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club inWimbledon, London, United Kingdom.[1][2] The tournament was scheduled to be held from Monday 25 June until Saturday 7 July 1973 but rain on the final Friday meant that the women's singles final was postponed until Saturday and the mixed doubles final was rescheduled to Sunday 8 July.[3] It was the 87th staging of theWimbledon Championships, and the thirdGrand Slam tennis event of 1973.Jan Kodeš andBillie Jean King won the singles titles. King became the first player in the open era to claim the triple crown, the second time in her career she won all three titles open to women players. Her three victories necessitated playing six matches on the final weekend of the tournament: The singles final, the doubles semi-final and final and the mixed doubles quarter-final, semi-final and final, which was played on the extended Sunday schedule.
In May 1973Nikola Pilić, Yugoslavia's number one tennis player, was suspended by his national lawn tennis association, theYugoslav Tennis Association, which claimed he had refused to play in aDavis Cup tie for his country against New Zealand earlier that month.[4] The initial suspension of nine months, supported by theInternational Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), later was reduced by the ILTF to one month, which meant that Pilić would not be permitted to play at Wimbledon.[5] The recently formed men's players union, theAssociation of Tennis Professionals (ATP), stated that none should compete if Pilić were not allowed to compete. As a result, 81 of the top players, including reigning championStan Smith, boycotted Wimbledon in 1973 to protest the suspension of Nikola Pilić. Twelve of the 16 men's seeds had withdrawn.[6] This resulted in a large number of qualifiers andlucky losers.[7]
Three ATP players,Ilie Năstase,Roger Taylor andRay Keldie, defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee. Năstase unsuccessfully appealed the fine as he insisted that as a serving captain, he was under orders from the Romanian army and government to compete. Some contemporary press speculation and later biographies have suggested Năstase contrived to lose his fourth round match as he supported the ATP boycott, but to have lost any earlier to a considerably less able player would have been too obvious.[8][9] Năstase never has commented on this speculation. Despite the boycott, the attendance of 300,172 was the second highest in the championships' history to that date.[5]
The total prize money for 1973 championships was £52,400. The winner of the men's title earned £5,000 while the women's singles champion earned £3,000.[3][10]
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Round of 64 | Round of 128 |
| Men's singles | £5,000 | £3,000 | £1,000 | £550 | £300 | £200 | £125 | £100 |
| Women's singles | £3,000 | £2,000 | £700 | £400 | £250 | £150 | £100 | £75 |
| Men's doubles * | £1,000 | £600 | £400 | £200 | £0 | £0 | £0 | — |
| Women's doubles * | £600 | £400 | £200 | £100 | £0 | £0 | £0 | — |
| Mixed doubles * | £500 | £350 | £175 | £100 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
* per team
Jan Kodeš defeated
Alex Metreveli, 6–1, 9–8(7–5), 6–3[11]
Billie Jean King defeatedChris Evert, 6–0, 7–5[12]
Jimmy Connors /Ilie Năstase defeatedJohn Cooper /Neale Fraser, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 8–9(3–7), 6–1[13]
Rosemary Casals /Billie Jean King defeated
Françoise Dürr /
Betty Stöve, 6–1, 4–6, 7–5[14]
Owen Davidson /Billie Jean King defeated
Raúl Ramírez /Janet Newberry, 6–3, 6–2[15]
Billy Martin defeated
Colin Dowdeswell, 6–2, 6–4[16]
Ann Kiyomura defeatedMartina Navrátilová, 6–4, 7–5[17]
Men's singles[edit]
The original seeding list before the boycott was: | Women's singles[edit]
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| Preceded by | Grand Slams | Succeeded by |
