title: 1979 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles
text: # 1979 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles
  
  Vitas Gerulaitis was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Björn Borg.
  
  John McEnroe won in the final 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–6 against Borg.
  
  ## Seeds
  
  A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.
  
  * Jimmy Connors (semifinals)
  * Björn Borg (final)
  * John McEnroe (champion)
  * Brian Gottfried (quarterfinals)
  * Vitas Gerulaitis (semifinals)
  * John Alexander (quarterfinals)
  * Gene Mayer (quarterfinals)
  * Geoff Masters (quarterfinals)
  
  ## 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 | Jimmy Connors | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
  | 7 | Gene Mayer | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
  | 7 | Gene Mayer | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Jimmy Connors | 1 | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | |
  | | | | | | | 3 | John McEnroe | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | |
  | 3 | John McEnroe | 6 | 6 | 6 | | 3 | John McEnroe | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | |
  | 6 | John Alexander | 4 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
  | 6 | John Alexander | 4 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | 3 | John McEnroe | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Björn Borg | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
  | 5 | Vitas Gerulaitis | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Björn Borg | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
  | 4 | Brian Gottfried | 4 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
  | 4 | Brian Gottfried | 4 | 3 | 3 | | 5 | Vitas Gerulaitis | 5 | 6 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | |
  | | | | | | | 2 | Björn Borg | 7 | 7 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | |
  | 8 | Geoff Masters | 3 | 1 | 1 | | 2 | Björn Borg | 7 | 7 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | |
  | 2 | Björn Borg | 6 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
  