The Open Era in Tennis

• In case you are wondering just what The Open Era is, here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry with a little bit of my editing. The Open Era in tennis began in 1968, when the Grand Slam tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete with amateurs. A professional tennis tour was created for the entire year, where everyone could compete. This meant that the division that had existed for many years between these two groups had finally come to an end, which made the tennis world into one unified competition. The first Grand Slam tournament to go “open” was the 1968 French Open. Records and titles from before this date are difficult to compare with those of the Open Era, since many of the best players were not allowed to participate in all tournaments.

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