1979 US Open – Men's Singles umpire being replaced before McEnroe ran out the winner. John McEnroe defeated Vitas Gerulaitis 7–5, 6–3, 6–3 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1979 US Open. The seeded players are listed below. John McEnroe is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated. 1979 US Open – Men's Singles Jimmy Connors was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to John McEnroe. Connors' loss broke a string of five consecutive men's finals reached, a record since broken by Ivan Lendl. During the second round Ilie Nastase was defaulted from his
US Open (tennis) the 1968 national tournament were open to professionals. That year, 96 men and 63 women entered, and prize money totaled US$100,000. In 1970, the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to use a tiebreaker to decide a set that reached a 6–6 score in games. From 1970 through 1974, the US Open used a best-of-nine-point sudden-death tiebreaker before moving to the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) best-of-twelve points system. In 1973, the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women, with that year's singles champions,John Newcombe and Margaret Court, receiving