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Toronto Indoor

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Toronto Indoor
Defunct tennis tournament
Event nameToronto Molson Light Challenge (1981–85)
Corel North American Indoor (1986)
SkyDome World Tennis (1990)
TourWCT circuit (1972–77)
Grand Prix circuit (1985–86)
ATP Tour (1990)
Founded1972
Abolished1990
Editions14
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada (1971–86/1990)
VenueMaple Leaf Gardens
Skydome (1990)
SurfaceCarpet (i) (1985–86/1990)

The Toronto Indoor (also known as Toronto Molson Light Challenge from 1981 to 1985, Corel North American Indoor in 1986 and Skydome World Tennis in 1990) was a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts, held at Maple Leaf Gardens. It was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit and later, for one year, the ATP Championship Series of the ATP Tour.

History

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The tournament was established in 1972, becoming the second tournament held in Canada alongside the Canadian Open which alternated between Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario. The final event in 1990 was held at the Skydome.

It was held as an official tour event in consecutive years between 1972 and 1977, 1985 and 1986[1] and then again for a final time in 1990,[2] as the first event on the newly formed ATP Tour. From 1972 to 1977, it was part of the World Championship Tennis-tour.

The first winner in 1972 was Rod Laver. During the second period, Kevin Curren won the first singles event by beating Anders Järryd, with Peter Fleming and Järryd taking the doubles title. Joakim Nyström took both titles the following year with victory against Milan Šrejber in the singles and partnering Wojciech Fibak to the doubles title. After the four-year break, Ivan Lendl took the final singles title, while Patrick Galbraith and David Macpherson won the doubles.

Molson Challenge/Molson Light Challenge

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From 1981 to 1984, the tour event was replaced by an invitational competition featuring 8 players in a round-robin. It was decided to host a full tournament following the success of a standalone exhibition between Jimmy Connors and Ilie Năstase, staged the previous year at Maple Leaf Gardens in front of 12,000.[3] It was put together by Concert Productions International, a Toronto-based company that promoted another lucrative exhibition tournament, the Challenge of Champions.[4]

CPI made a substantial investment in the event's launch. The inaugural edition featured a $500,000 prize money pool, which was incorporated into its name.[3] That amount included a $25,000 bounty-style bonus for the first player who could beat world number one Björn Borg, a novelty which left the Swedish star and some of his opponents unimpressed.[5] Other expenses, including a sizeable advertising campaign, brought the budget for the five-day competition to more than $1 million. The players were contractually bound to help with promotion, and owed the promoters one newspaper, one radio and one TV appearance each. All of the Maple Leaf Gardens' 116 suites were sold, guaranteeing the event's viability. It was shown on CTV in Canada and on ESPN in the US.[3] In 1982 two separate editions were held, one at the Gardens in February, and another at the Montreal Forum in October.

Past finals

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Key

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WCT Circuit
Grand Prix Circuit/ATP Championship Series
Invitational Tournament

Singles

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Year Champions Runners-up Score
1972 Australia Rod Laver Australia Ken Rosewall 6–1 6–4
1973 Australia Rod Laver Australia Roy Emerson 6–3, 6–4
1974 Netherlands Tom Okker Romania Ilie Năstase 6–3, 6–4
1975 United States Harold Solomon United States Stan Smith 6–4, 6–1
1976 Sweden Björn Borg United States Vitas Gerulaitis 2–6, 6–3, 6–1
1977 United States Dick Stockton United States Jimmy Connors 5–6 Connors ret.
1981 United States Vitas Gerulaitis United States John McEnroe 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
1982[a] United States Jimmy Connors Sweden Björn Borg 6–4, 6–3
1982[b] Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl United States John McEnroe 7–5, 3–6, 7–6, 7–5
1983 United States Jimmy Connors Spain José Higueras 6–2, 6–0, 5–7, 6–0
1984 Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl France Yannick Noah 6–0, 6–2, 6–4
1985 South Africa Kevin Curren Sweden Anders Järryd 7–6, 6–3
1986 Sweden Joakim Nyström Czechoslovakia Milan Šrejber 6–1, 6–4
1990 Czechoslovakia Ivan Lendl United States Tim Mayotte 6–3, 6–0

Doubles

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Year Champions Runners-up Score
1972 Australia Bob Carmichael
Australia Ray Ruffels
Australia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver
6–4, 4–6, 6–4
1973 Australia John Alexander
Australia Phil Dent
Australia Roy Emerson
Australia Rod Laver
3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–2
1974 Mexico Raúl Ramírez
Australia Tony Roche
Netherlands Tom Okker
United States Marty Riessen
6–3, 2–6, 6–4
1975 United States Dick Stockton
United States Erik van Dillen
India Anand Amritraj
India Vijay Amritraj
6–4, 7–5, 6–1
1976 Chile Jaime Fillol
South Africa Frew McMillan
Soviet Union Alexander Metreveli
Romania Ilie Năstase
6–7(3–7), 6–2, 6–3
1977 Poland Wojciech Fibak
Netherlands Tom Okker
Australia Ross Case
Australia Tony Roche
6–4, 6–1
1985 United States Peter Fleming
Sweden Anders Järryd
United States Glenn Layendecker
Canada Glenn Michibata
7–6, 6–2
1986 Poland Wojciech Fibak
Sweden Joakim Nyström
South Africa Christo Steyn
South Africa Danie Visser
6–3, 7–6
1990 United States Patrick Galbraith
Australia David Macpherson
United Kingdom Neil Broad
United States Kevin Curren
2–6, 6–4, 6–3

Notes

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  1. ^ Played in Montreal.
  2. ^ Played in Toronto.

References

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  1. ^ "Query NY Times". NY Times. 1989-12-24. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  2. ^ "Query NY Times". NY Times. 1990-02-17. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  3. ^ a b c Wayne, Jamie (February 7, 1981). "New format served up for Molson tennis". The Toronto Star. p. 15  – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
  4. ^ "Tennis roundup". The Toronto Star. January 11, 1981. p. C10  – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
  5. ^ "Gerulatis beats bad-boy Nastase". Nanaimo Daily News. February 6, 1981. p. 15  – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
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