1974 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles
# 1974 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles

Stan Smith was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to John Newcombe.

Newcombe won in the final 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–2 against Björn Borg.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.

* Rod Laver (quarterfinals)
* Björn Borg (final)
* Ilie Năstase (quarterfinals)
* John Newcombe (champion)
* Tom Okker (quarterfinals)
* Jan Kodeš (semifinals)
* Arthur Ashe (quarterfinals)
* Stan Smith (semifinals)

## Draw

### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rod Laver | $7^8$ | 4 | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Stan Smith | $6^6$ | 6 | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Stan Smith | $6^6$ | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Stan Smith | 1 | 6 | $6^3$ | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | John Newcombe | 6 | 3 | $7^7$ | 6 | | | | | | |
| 4 | John Newcombe | 6 | 6 | 6 | | 4 | John Newcombe | 6 | 3 | $7^7$ | 6 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Tom Okker | 3 | 3 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Tom Okker | 3 | 3 | 2 | | | | | | | | 4 | John Newcombe | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Björn Borg | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | Jan Kodeš | $7^7$ | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Björn Borg | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Ilie Năstase | $6^3$ | 1 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Ilie Năstase | $6^3$ | 1 | 5 | | 6 | Jan Kodeš | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Björn Borg | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Arthur Ashe | 5 | 4 | $6^6$ | | 2 | Björn Borg | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Björn Borg | 7 | 6 | $7^8$ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
