1971 USLTA Indoor Circuit

The 1971 USLTA Indoor Circuit, also known as the U.S. Indoor Winter Circuit, was a professional tennis circuit held in the United States that year. It consisted of six tournaments and was organized by Bill Riordan and sanctioned by the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA).^[1][2] A $40,000 bonus pool was made available via the circuit sponsor Gillette for the top 10 points finishers.^[3] Total prize money for the tour, including the bonus, was $220,000.^[4]

1971 USLTA Indoor Circuit

Details
Duration	January 25 – March 11
Edition	1st
Tournaments	6
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Ilie Năstase (3)
Most tournament finals	Ilie Năstase (4)
← 1970 1972 →

Schedule

January

Week of	Tournament	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
25 Jan	Midlands International Omaha, Nebraska, US $15,000 - Carpet (i) – 16S/8D	Ilie Năstase 6–4, 6–3, 6–1	Cliff Richey	Thomaz Koch   Jim McManus	Tom Gorman   Frank Froehling   Haroon Rahim   Dick Stockton
		Clark Graebner   Thomaz Koch 6–4, 4–6, 6–4	Jim McManus   Jim Osborne

February

Week of	Tournament	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
4 Feb	Pontiac International Washington D.C., US $6,500 – carpet (i) – 16S	Jaime Fillol 6–1, 3–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4	Thomaz Koch	Cliff Richey   Manuel Orantes	Richard Russell   Steve Fiske   Patricio Cornejo   Haroon Rahim
9 Feb	Clean Air Classic Hawthorne, New Jersey, US New York City, New York, US $30,000 – carpet (i) – 32S/16D	Željko Franulović 6–2, 5–7, 6–4, 7–5	Clark Graebner	Thomaz Koch   Ilie Năstase	Jim Osborne   Haroon Rahim   Tom Gorman   Cliff Richey
		Juan Gisbert, Sr.   Manuel Orantes 7–6, 6–2	Jimmy Connors   Haroon Rahim
20 Feb	U.S. National Indoor Championships Salisbury, Maryland, US $50,000 – hard – 64S/32D	Clark Graebner 2–6, 7–6, 1–6, 7–6, 6–0	Cliff Richey	Haroon Rahim   Gerald Battrick	Jaime Fillol   Clark Graebner   Manuel Orantes   Tom Gorman
		Juan Gisbert, Sr.   Manuel Orantes 7–6, 6–2	Clark Graebner   Thomaz Koch
25 Feb	Macon International Macon, Georgia, US $25,000 – carpet (i) – 42S/22D	Željko Franulović 6–4, 7–5, 5–7, 3–6, 7–6^(5–4)	Ilie Năstase	Clark Graebner   Jaime Fillol	Edison Mandarino   Tom Edlefsen   Juan Gisbert, Sr.   Tom Gorman
		Clark Graebner   Thomaz Koch 6–3, 6–3	Željko Franulović   Jan Kodeš

March

Week of	Tournament	Champion	Runner-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
1 Mar	National Indoor Championships Hampton, Virginia, US $35,000 – carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Ilie Năstase 7–5, 6–4, 7–6^(5–0)	Clark Graebner	Željko Franulović   Ion Țiriac	Frank Froehling   Jaime Fillol   Jan Kodeš   Thomaz Koch
		Ilie Năstase   Ion Țiriac 6–4, 4–6, 7–5	Clark Graebner   Thomaz Koch

Bonus pool

Rank	Player	Bonus
1.	Clark Graebner	$10,000
2.	Ilie Năstase	$7,500
3.	Željko Franulović	$5,000

See also

• 1971 Grand Prix circuit
• 1971 World Championship Tennis circuit

References

1. Don Lee (October 14, 1970). "Midlands tennis tourney here will remain 'men only' event". Omaha World-Herald. p. 51 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Happer, Marshall (2021). Pioneers of the Game. New York: New Chapter Press. pp. 83–93. ISBN 9781937559953.
3. Tom Foster (March 8, 1971). "Nastase tops Graebner for Coliseum tennis title". Daily Press. pp. 11–12 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Fine edge helps out". The Province. AP. January 28, 1971. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com. A $40,000 bonus by the Gillette Company Wednesday boosted to $220,000 the total prize money for the U.S. Indoor Winter Tennis Circuit.