of this league." On June 28, 1976, the Golden Gaters claimed the negotiating rights to ten reigning French Open champion Adriano Panatta after he had been left unprotected by the New York Sets. Golden Gaters did not contact Panatta about a contract but did inform him that they had obtained his rights. "Should the time arise in the near future when the Gaters need some strength in the men's category," said Golden Gaters owner Dave Peterson, "I will not hesitate to sit down with Adriano and discuss financial terms. But, until that time comes, I am totally pleased with our present lineup and look at the Panatta acquisition as a strengthening to the Gater franchise." During the 1976 season, Tom Okker earned the Male All-Star Match Most Valuable Player Award. The Golden Gaters finished the 1976 regular season with 28 wins and 16 losses, second place in the Western Division, 2 matches behind the Phoenix Racquets whom they met in the Western Division Championship Series. McMillan and Okker led WTT in game-winning percentage in men's doubles, and Dürr and Stöve were the leaders in women's doubles. On August 16, the Golden Gaters opened the playoffs on the road in front of 5,848 fans at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a dominant victory over the Racquets. Okker and Frew McMillian opened the match with a 6–2 set win over Andrew Pattison and player-coach Tony Roche. Stöve followed with a stunning 7–6 set win over reigning Wimbledon champion and WTT Female Most Valuable Player Evert to extend the Golden Gaters lead to 13–8. Stöve and Dürr then dominated Evert and Shaw, 6–0, in women's doubles pushing the Golden Gaters lead to 19–8. Okker won the men's singles against Pattison, 7–6, in a tiebreaker, and Dürr and Lucas took the final set from Shaw and Roche, 6–2, for a final score of 32–16. Stöve had lost all six women's singles matchups with Evert during the regular season. The Golden Gaters returned home to Oakland for the second match with a chance to clinch the best-of-three series on August 17. McMillan and Dürr took the opening set of mixed doubles from Roche and Shaw, 6–3. Evert came back strong from her loss the previous night with a dominant 6–1 set win over Stöve to give the Racquets a 9–7 lead. The Golden Gaters surged back in front with a 6–1 set win by McMillan