HOW PILIĆ STARTED A REVOLUTION IN TENNIS: Wimbledon Was Massively Boycotted, Almost No One From the TOP 100 Played! (VIDEO)

Nikola Pilić wrote tennis history. And not only because of what he did on the court. An important chapter in that story belongs to what happened before Wimbledon in 1973, when, because of him, 81 players went on strike.

Nikola Pilić has died. And he left behind great achievements both on and off the tennis court.

For days, the press wrote about the “Pilić Affair.”

At first, the story seemed completely harmless. Nikola Pilić was a high-ranked Yugoslav player. His uncle, General Dušan Kovač, was at the head of the country’s Tennis Federation. The uncle asked his nephew to play Davis Cup for Yugoslavia. And his answer forever changed the governing structure of tennis.

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At that time, the world’s best players were under the control of their national Federations. Their participation in Grand Slams or the Davis Cup depended on the decisions of officials.

By 1973, with the rise of professional sport, many players had signed contracts with tour promoters. That included Pilić, who was obliged to play in a doubles tournament in Montreal the same weekend Yugoslavia was playing its Davis Cup tie.

This scheduling conflict, however ordinary it may have looked on the surface, was in fact a clash between the old and the new order – one side had to give way. Pilić chose to travel to Montreal.

He informed the Federation leaders on time, and they initially accepted his decision. However, everything quickly changed – and Pilić was suspended for nine months from all events organized by the amateur governing body, the International Tennis Federation. That included the Davis Cup and the Grand Slams.

Although his suspension was eventually reduced from nine months to “only” one month, it still meant Nikola Pilić could not participate at Wimbledon.

In previous years, players had quietly endured such consequences. But in the fall of 1972, men had, for the first time, formed a union – which now stood behind Pilić.

As many as 81 players, including the last two champions Stan Smith and John Newcombe, decided to boycott Wimbledon 1973 if Pilić was not allowed to compete alongside them.

June 22nd, 1973: The news is announced that 81 ATP players will boycott Wimbledon

They chose to stand beside fellow player Nikola Pilic, who had been barred from playing Wimbledon for refusing to play a Davis Cup match for his native Yugoslavia a month before.

🎥: AP Archive pic.twitter.com/D4U6mYWGNh
— Tennis Historian (@HistorianTennis) July 2, 2023

London did not care. Wimbledon confirmed Pilić’s suspension, and the players walked away.

The British press supported their beloved tournament and accused the young professionals of greed. “Fools! Tennis stars crazy for money,” read one headline.

But money was not the problem – freedom and control were. When the amateur officials realized that players were ready to give up their greatest dream – the chance to play at Wimbledon – for the sake of one fellow union member, it was over. From then on, the players had power.

This “Pilić Affair” did much for tennis, as a country’s Federation could no longer force its players to participate in specific events.