Fifty years ago, the British Lawn Tennis Association declared, “The English are tired of the hypocrisy in the sport, the shamateurism that plagues high-class tennis.” Thus was born the Open Era in tennis and on April 22, 1968, John Clifton hit the first serve of the Open Era at the Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth, England.
Before the Open Era, tennis was a sport split into two. The vast majority of its players were amateurs who competed in a host of tournaments, including the major championships. They didn’t play for money but they did, however, deal with under-the-table profits which earned them the title “shamateurs”. The professionals, who wanted to earn money, were not allowed to play at prestigious events and had to pick up the racquet to eke out a living wherever they could find an audience that was willing to pay and watch.
But the Open Era established prize money and allowed both professionals and amateurs to take part in the same tournament. After 1968, the prize money in tennis began to increase considerably. So much so that a report published in Forbes in 1991 said, “No American football player earned as much as the highest-paid tennis player, and the highest-paid American man tennis player earned a total income that was 60% more than the highest-paid baseball player.”
At the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Open Era in 2008, Rod Laver, who was crowned the first Wimbledon champion of the Open Era, said, “If your pockets are full, you're gonna say, ‘See you later, I don’t want to play any more.’” But there seems to be evidence against that: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have both eclipsed the $100 million prize money mark and don’t look like they’re quitting any time soon.
The first Open Era tournament was boycotted by the pros in the women’s game. Women players, including Billie Jean King, gave it a miss because “the top prize was too low, and more importantly, considerably lesser than the men’s.” Between 1968 and now, tennis has been one of the few sports that has paid attention to pay equality between men and women. All Grand Slams offer equal prize to men and women.
The Open Era enhanced the quality of competition in the field, giving us long-running rivalries from Connors-McEnroe to Federer-Nadal. The popularity of the sport too began to soar. Soon after the shift, governing bodies like the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association arrived, and this helped organise and regulate the sport with some authority.
However, the biggest achievement of the Open Era is how far it has expanded the reach of tennis, far beyond just the U.K., the U.S. and Australia. For instance, Maria Sharapova could make the journey from Russia to Florida and go on to become a Grand Slam champion. China and Japan have had many tennis ‘firsts’ in the past few years. You no longer have to be a ‘traditional tennis nation’ to produce tennis talent.
The writer covers tennis for The Hindu
