The 1970s Quiz
The subject of this month's quiz? The 1970s. All the questions center around players and records from the 1970-79 era. Don't remember it? Well, then consider this something of a "tennis tutorial."
As you get your 70's tennis knowledge flowing, consider getting a cash advance to buy extra time for answering the quiz questions.
==THE QUESTIONS==
1.Which player set the record for the most singles titles in a season during the 1970s? (Bonus: Within 3, how many titles did she win?)
a.Martina Navratilova
b.Chris Evert
c.Evonne Goolagong
d.Margaret Court
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2.Evonne Goolagong won the 1977 Australian Open title. She was unranked at the time, making it the only occurence when such a woman has won a slam singles crown since the advent of any ranking system. What circumstances precipitated the Australian's unranked status?
a.she was out of action for 10 months after having suffered a severely broken leg in a car accident in her native New South Wales, Australia
b.a squabble with the WTA over prize money resulted in a boycott by Goolagong against, and her subsequent 8-month suspension by, the WTA
c.she left the tour to have a baby
d.she had retired at the end of the 1976 season, but decided to come back to the game less than a year later, returning to action in November '77 just before the Australian Open that December
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3.Martina Navratilova's first slam singles crown came, not surprisingly, at Wimbledon. How many grand slam main draws did she participate (and lose) in before she won the first of her 18 titles?
a.0 (she won in her first attempt)
b.14
c.9
d.19
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4.True/False. No woman was able to win at least one WTA singles title in every season from 1970-79. (Bonus: If "True," which player claimed a title in the most seasons. If "False," which player or players won titles in every year of the decade?)
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5.Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert met 14 times in grand slam singles finals during their careers. Three of those matchups occurred in the 1970s. What slam hosted the first of these battles? (Bonus: In what year did it occur, and who won?)
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6."I won the Australian Open in the 1970s, and was the only woman from my country to do so during the decade. My sister also played in a grand slam singles final during her career. Who am I?"
a.Manuela Maleeva
b.Barbara Jordan
c.Gabriela Navratilova
d.it's a trick question -- no woman fits the description!
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7.Who held or shared the WTA lead in singles titles the most seasons during the 1970s?
a.Margaret Court
b.Martina Navratilova
c.Billie Jean King
d.Chris Evert
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8.Which doubles team won the most slam titles during the 1970-79 span?
a.Margaret Court & Virginia Wade
b.Billie Jean King & Rosie Casals
c.Martina Navratilova & Chris Evert
d.Billie Jean King & Martina Navratilova
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9.Which player had the best start to a season during the decade? (Bonus: Which player, not necessarily active during the 1970s, currently holds the record for the best-ever start to a season?)
a.Chris Evert (1978)
b.Martina Navratilova (1978)
c.Margaret Court (1973)
d.Evonne Goolagong (1977)
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10."I won a grand slam singles title in the 1970s. Unfortunately for me, it was the only WTA singles crown I won in my entire career. Who am I?"
a.Chris O'Neil
b.Lesley Turner Bowrey
c.Renee Richards
d.Betsy Nagelsen
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BONUS QUESTION: From the initial WTA computer rankings list on November 3, 1975 until the end of the decade, five different women were ranked either #1 or #2. From the list of ten that follows, pick the five who did:
1.Chris Evert
2.Virginia Wade
3.Hana Mandlikova
4.Billie Jean King
5.Margaret Court
6.Evonne Goolagong
7.Olga Morozova
8.Tracy Austin
9.Pam Shriver
10.Martina Navratilova
==ANSWERS==
=(1 point for each correct answer, 1 point for each bonus)=
1.D. Margaret Court. (Bonus point: Court won 21 titles in 1970, so a guess between 18-24 earns a point. The record still stands. In fact, in the past 13 years, the most titles any player has won in a season was Martina Hingis' 12 in 1997.)
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2.C. Goolagong finished the 1976 season as the #2-ranked player, then learned that she was expecting her first child. After having the baby (Kelly), she returned to action late in 1977. She was awarded a #1-seed at the Australian, which at that time was held in December, and went on to win the event. After her return, Goolagong managed to string together a 34-match winning streak, winning five titles and, between November '77 and March '78, going a combined 46-2. The last Australian woman to win a grand slam singles crown, she claimed the last of her seven slams in 1980 at Wimbledon. In fact, since Goolagong, Wendy Turnbull's December 1980 appearance in the Oz final is the only time an Aussie woman has advanced to such a stage in the past 22 (and counting) years. Of Note: Hana Mandlikova, who became an Australian citizen late in her career, did advance to eight slam finals (winning 4, the last being the Australian in 1987) but all were as a citizen of Czechoslovakia.
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3.B. Navratilova won the 1978 Wimbledon title with a victory over Chris Evert. It was her 15th appearance in the main draw of a slam. Her best results for each of the other three slams before that victory were a RU in Australia in 1975, a Roland Garros RU in 1975, and US Open SF in 1977.
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4.False. One woman did so. (Bonus point: It was Evonne Goolagong, who won at least one WTA singles title in every season from 1970-79 -- and a total of 67 during the span. She extended her season-streak to 11 with the final singles title of her career at Wimbledon in 1980. The longest season-streak ever belongs to Martina Navratilova, who claimed a title in 21 straight seasons from 1974-94.)
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5.(1 point for each of the three correct answers) The first Navratilova-Evert slam final occurred at Roland Garros in 1975, with Evert winning 2-6,6-2,6-1. Navratilova would go on to win 10 of the remainging 13 matchups. Their final slam clash, though, went to Evert as she won her record 7th Roland Garros title with a three-set victory in 1986.
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6.B. She's Barbara Jordan, who defeated fellow American Sharon Walsh in the 1979 Australian Open final. It was by far Jordan's best slam performance, considering she never advanced past the 3r in her 21 other appearances (and had 11 1r exits). And, yes, her sister Kathy -- years before anyone had ever heard of Venus or Serena -- also made the 1983 Australian final (losing to M.Navratilova) to make the Jordans the first sisters to both advance to grand slam singles finals since Maud and Lillian Watson faced off at Wimbledon in 1884. As of yet, none of the three Maleevas have made a slam final, though in mid-1993 all three were ranked in the Top 13. Youngest (and still active) Maggie was #11, oldest Manuela #12 and middle sibling Katerina #13. Gabriela Navratilova, by the way, is a Czech currently playing on tour.
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7.D. Evert led four times (consecutively from 1974-77). Court led 3 times, with Navratilova and King 2 times each.
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8.B. King/Casals won four slam doubles titles during the decade. The Court/Wade, Navratilova/Evert and King/Navratilova teams all won two. The team of Goolagong/Peggy Michel won three.
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9.B. Navratilova began her '78 season with a 37-0 run. (Bonus point: Navratilova held the record until 1987 when Steffi Graf started 45-0. Martina Hingis matched Navratilova's 37-0 start in 1997.)
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10.A. She's Aussie Chris O'Neil, the then-world #111 who defeated Betsy Nagelsen in the final of the 1978 Australian Open. Although also a Roland Garros Junior Girls champ in 1975, the '78 Oz win was O'Neil's only WTA singles crown during a 10-year career that saw her earn just $56,291 and her ranking rise no higher than #67.
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BONUS QUESTION: (one point for each) Numbers 1 (Evert), 2 (Wade), 4 (King), 6 (Goolagong) and 10 (Navratilova). Since the computer rankings didn't start until 1975, Court's career high in the system was just #5. Austin won the 1979 US Open and finished the season at #3, then became world #1 in April 1980.
==SCORING==
16-20...Time to prepare a speech for your Tennis Hall of Fame induction
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11-15...Time to ask for a wild card into your local tournament
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5-10...Time to spend more time on the practice courts
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1-4...Time to get a new sports psychologist, or ponder early retirement
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0...a conceptually impossible feat
posted by Todd Spiker @ 8:34 PM
