1981 Grand Prix (tennis)

The 1981 Volvo Grand Prix was the only men's professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Grand Prix tournaments. The World Championship Tennis (WCT) Tour was incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit. The WCT tour consisted of eight regular tournaments, a season's final, three tournaments categorized as special events and a doubles championship. In total 89 tournaments were held divided over 29 countries. The circuit was administered by the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC).

Schedule
The table below shows the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix schedule (precursor to the ATP Tour).

Points system
The tournaments listed above were divided into twelve point categories. The highest points were allocated to the Grand Slam tournaments; French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, the US Open and the Australian Open. Points were allocated based on these categories and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. The points table is based on a 32 player draw. No points were awarded to first-round losers and advancements by default were equal to winning a round. The points allocation, with doubles points listed in brackets, is as follows:

Grand Prix standings
1. Ivan Lendl (Cze)

2. John McEnroe (USA)

3. Jimmy Connors (USA)

4. José Luis Clerc (Arg)

5. Guillermo Vilas (Arg)

6. Björn Borg (Sue)

7. Roscoe Tanner (USA)

8. Eliot Teltscher (USA)

9. Vitas Gerulaitis (USA)

10. Yannick Noah (Fra)

ATP rankings
*The official ATP year-end rankings were listed from January 4th, 1982.

List of tournament winners
The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name:
 * 🇸🇪 Björn Borg (3) French Open, Stuttgart Outdoor, Geneva
 * 🇦🇷 José Luis Clerc (6) Florence, Rome, Boston, Washington, D.C., North Conway, Indianapolis
 * 🇺🇸 Jimmy Connors (4) La Quinta, Brussels, Rotterdam, Wembley
 * Kevin Curren (1) Johannesburg
 * 🇺🇸 Eddie Dibbs (2) Forest Hills WCT, Quito
 * 🇦🇺 Mark Edmondson (3) Adelaide, Bristol, Brisbane
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Fibak (1) Gstaad
 * Jaime Fillol (1) Mexico City
 * 🇦🇺 John Fitzgerald (1) Kitzbühel
 * 🇺🇸 Vitas Gerulaitis (1) Johannesburg
 * 🇺🇸 Sammy Giammalva (1) Napa
 * Hans Gildemeister (1) Santiago
 * 🇮🇱 Shlomo Glickstein (1) South Orange
 * 🇪🇨 Andrés Gómez (1) Bordeaux
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Gottfried (1) Stowe
 * Johan Kriek (3) Monterrey WCT, Newport, Australian Open
 * 🇮🇳 Ramesh Krishnan (1) Manila
 * Ivan Lendl (8) Stuttgart Indoor, Las Vegas, Montreal, Barcelona, Basel, Vienna, Cologne, Buenos Aires
 * 🇳🇿 Chris Lewis (1) Munich
 * 🇧🇴 Mario Martínez (1) Venice
 * 🇺🇸 Gene Mayer (4) Memphis, Denver, Cleveland, Stockholm
 * 🇺🇸 Sandy Mayer (1) Bologna
 * 🇺🇸 John McEnroe (10) Boca Raton, Milan, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Dallas WCT, Queen's Club, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, US Open, Sydney Indoor
 * 🇦🇺 Peter McNamara (2) Hamburg, Melbourne Indoor
 * 🇺🇸 Richard Meyer (1) Sofia
 * 🇫🇷 Yannick Noah (2) Richmond WCT, Nice
 * 🇮🇹 Gianni Ocleppo (1) Linz
 * 🇪🇸 Manuel Orantes (1) Palermo
 * Marko Ostoja (1) Brussels
 * Víctor Pecci (2) Viña del Mar, Bournemouth
 * 🇺🇸 Mel Purcell (3) Tampa, Atlanta, Tel Aviv
 * 🇺🇸 Bill Scanlon (2) Auckland, Bangkok
 * Pavel Složil (1) Nancy
 * 🇺🇸 Roscoe Tanner (1) Philadelphia
 * 🇭🇺 Balázs Taróczy (3) Monte Carlo, Hilversum, Tokyo Outdoor
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Teacher (1) Columbus
 * 🇺🇸 Eliot Teltscher (2) Puerto Rico, San Francisco
 * 🇫🇷 Thierry Tulasne (1) Båstad
 * 🇺🇸 Vince Van Patten (1) Tokyo Indoor
 * 🇺🇸 Robert Van't Hof (1) Taiwan
 * 🇦🇷 Guillermo Vilas (3) Mar del Plata, Cairo, Houston
 * 🇺🇸 Mark Vines (1) Bercy
 * 🇺🇸 Tim Wilkison (1) Sydney Outdoor
 * 🇺🇸 Van Winitsky (1) Hong Kong

The following players won their first title in 1981:
 * Kevin Curren Johannesburg
 * 🇦🇺 John Fitzgerald Kitzbühel
 * 🇺🇸 Sammy Giammalva Napa
 * 🇪🇨 Andrés Gómez Bordeaux
 * 🇮🇳 Ramesh Krishnan Manila
 * 🇺🇸 Mel Purcell Tampa
 * Pavel Složil Nancy
 * 🇫🇷 Thierry Tulasne Båstad