 Once a player "turned pro" he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the Open Era (see below), in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis.With the beginning of the Open Era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).