Richmond WCT

Richmond WCT
Defunct tennis tournament
Event name	Fidelity Bankers Invitational United Virginia Bank Tennis Classic
Tour	ILTF World Circuit (1966–1971) WCT Tour (1972–1984) Grand Prix (1978–1981)
Founded	1966
Abolished	1984
Editions	19
Location	Richmond, Virginia
Venue	Richmond Arena Richmond Coliseum Robins Center
Surface	Carpet / 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

Singles

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

Doubles

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

See also

• Virginia Slims of Richmond – women's tournament

Notes

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

References

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.

External links

• ATP Tour archive
• Reports and photos of 1977 Richmond WCT Mike Harris, Ben Blake, Tom Savage Commonwealth Times 1977-02-08, pages 12–15
• The $35,000 Racquet Dave Cody, Commonwealth Times February 17, 1981 pp. 1,12–13,24