The Open Era in tennis began in:

The Open Era in tennis began in 1968, when the major tournaments, including the Grand Slams, were opened to professional players as well as amateurs. Before this, professional players, who earned money from tennis, were barred from competing in the major championships, which were reserved for amateurs.

How the Open Era began:

• The All England Club, which runs Wimbledon, led the change, announcing in 1967 that Wimbledon would be open to professionals.
• The first "open" tournament was the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth, England, in April 1968.
• The first Grand Slam of the Open Era was the 1968 French Open, won by Ken Rosewall (men) and Nancy Richey (women).
• The first open Wimbledon in 1968 was won by Rod Laver (men) and Billie Jean King (women).

Why it matters:

• It allowed the best players to compete together, increased prize money, and turned tennis into a major professional sport.
• It led to the founding of the men's professional body, the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), in 1972, and the women's body, the WTA (Women's Tennis Association), in 1973, founded by Billie Jean King.

Records are often counted separately for the Open Era. For example, Novak Djokovic holds the record for the most men's Grand Slam singles titles (24), and Serena Williams holds the Open Era record for women (23). Margaret Court holds the overall record for women with 24 titles, many won before the Open Era.

Rod Laver is the only player to win the calendar-year Grand Slam (all four majors in one year) twice: in 1962 (as an amateur) and 1969 (in the Open Era).

Indian players in the Open Era:

• Vijay Amritraj reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and the US Open several times.
• Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won Grand Slam doubles titles.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1877 is the year of the first Wimbledon tournament.
• ✗1950 is not linked to the Open Era.
• ✗1975 is not the start of the Open Era.