{"id":188225,"date":"2025-09-23T14:51:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=188225"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:51:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:51:56","slug":"how-pilic-started-a-revolution-in-tennis-wimbledon-was-massively-boycotted-almost-no-one-from-the-top-100-played-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/how-pilic-started-a-revolution-in-tennis-wimbledon-was-massively-boycotted-almost-no-one-from-the-top-100-played-video\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW PILI\u0106 STARTED A REVOLUTION IN TENNIS: Wimbledon Was Massively Boycotted, Almost No One From the TOP 100 Played! (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nikola Pili\u0107 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nikola Pili\u0107 has died. And he left behind great achievements both on and off the tennis court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For days, the press wrote about the \u201cPili\u0107 Affair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first, the story seemed completely harmless. Nikola Pili\u0107 was a high-ranked Yugoslav player. His uncle, General Du\u0161an Kova\u010d, was at the head of the country\u2019s Tennis Federation. The uncle asked his nephew to play Davis Cup for Yugoslavia. And his answer forever changed the governing structure of tennis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">FIND OUT MORE:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-serbiantimes-info wp-block-embed-serbiantimes-info\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"MGs8nJufNq\"><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/umro-noletov-teniski-otac-nikola-pilic-preminuo-u-87-godini\/\">UMRO NOLETOV &#8222;TENISKI OTAC&#8220;: Nikola Pili\u0107 preminuo u 87. godini!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#132;UMRO NOLETOV &#8222;TENISKI OTAC&#8220;: Nikola Pili\u0107 preminuo u 87. godini!&#147; &#8212; Serbiantimes.info\" src=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/umro-noletov-teniski-otac-nikola-pilic-preminuo-u-87-godini\/embed\/#?secret=1OolcA829h#?secret=MGs8nJufNq\" data-secret=\"MGs8nJufNq\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At that time, the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By 1973, with the rise of professional sport, many players had signed contracts with tour promoters. That included Pili\u0107, who was obliged to play in a doubles tournament in Montreal the same weekend Yugoslavia was playing its Davis Cup tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This scheduling conflict, however ordinary it may have looked on the surface, was in fact a clash between the old and the new order \u2013 one side had to give way. Pili\u0107 chose to travel to Montreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He informed the Federation leaders on time, and they initially accepted his decision. However, everything quickly changed \u2013 and Pili\u0107 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although his suspension was eventually reduced from nine months to \u201conly\u201d one month, it still meant Nikola Pili\u0107 could not participate at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In previous years, players had quietly endured such consequences. But in the fall of 1972, men had, for the first time, formed a union \u2013 which now stood behind Pili\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As many as 81 players, including the last two champions Stan Smith and John Newcombe, decided to boycott Wimbledon 1973 if Pili\u0107 was not allowed to compete alongside them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">June 22nd, 1973: The news is announced that 81 ATP players will boycott Wimbledon<br><br>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.<br><br>\ud83c\udfa5: AP Archive <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D4U6mYWGNh\">pic.twitter.com\/D4U6mYWGNh<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tennis Historian (@HistorianTennis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HistorianTennis\/status\/1675580102346932230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 2, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>London did not care. Wimbledon confirmed Pili\u0107\u2019s suspension, and the players walked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The British press supported their beloved tournament and accused the young professionals of greed. \u201cFools! Tennis stars crazy for money,\u201d read one headline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But money was not the problem \u2013 freedom and control were. When the amateur officials realized that players were ready to give up their greatest dream \u2013 the chance to play at Wimbledon \u2013 for the sake of one fellow union member, it was over. From then on, the players had power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This \u201cPili\u0107 Affair\u201d did much for tennis, as a country\u2019s Federation could no longer force its players to participate in specific events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/serbia-won-another-medal-svetlana-and-ivana-won-bronze-at-the-european-pickleball-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">SERBIA WON ANOTHER MEDAL: Svetlana and Ivana Won Bronze at the European Pickleball Championship!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/like-when-milosevic-was-overthrown-the-washington-post-on-student-protests-military-parade-and-europes-silence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cLIKE WHEN MILO\u0160EVI\u0106 WAS OVERTHROWN\u201d: The Washington Post on Student Protests, Military Parade and Europe\u2019s Silence!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/krivokapic-vucic-was-not-allowed-to-speak-at-amfilohijes-funeral-because-it-would-be-a-montenegrin-embarrassment-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">KRIVOKAPI\u0106: \u201cVu\u010di\u0107 Was Not Allowed to Speak at Amfilohije\u2019s Funeral, Because it Would Be a Montenegrin Embarrassment\u201d (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/monument-to-tesla-in-manhattan-mayor-of-new-york-supported-the-initiative-of-consul-general-bozovic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MONUMENT TO TESLA IN MANHATTAN: Mayor of New York Supported the Initiative of Consul General Bo\u017eovi\u0107!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/golden-talents-of-serbian-kickboxing-junior-national-team-brought-19-medals-from-the-european-championship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">GOLDEN TALENTS OF SERBIAN KICKBOXING: Junior National Team Brought 19 Medals from the European Championship!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>Source<\/strong><\/strong>: Sportal, <strong>Foto:<\/strong> Zorana Mandic \/ ATAImages&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nikola Pili\u0107 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 Pili\u0107 has died. And he left behind great achievements both on and off the tennis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":188226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[317,318,2270,8770,91,252,732,15,5275],"class_list":["post-188225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-jugoslavija","tag-karijera","tag-london","tag-nikola-pilic","tag-sport","tag-tenis","tag-velika-britanija","tag-video","tag-vimbldon","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188225"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188250,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188225\/revisions\/188250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}