Rod Laver

Rod Laver Biography

The former Australian tennis legend Rodney George Laver MBE popularly known as Rod Laver was born on 9th of August 1938 At Rock Hampton, Queensland, Australia. The 5'8" tall Tennis star holds the distinction of occupying the World no. 1 slot consecutively from 1964 to 1970, although many critics contest this fact. Rod Laver's dominance on the tennis court can also be judged by the fact that he is the only tennis star to capture all the four Grand slam singles of a year twice during his career. He achieved this feat once as a new sensation on the tennis court in 1962 and next time as a mature professional in 1969. Many Tennis pundits consider him the greatest star ever to play on the tennis court in the history of this popular Sport.
Rod Laver's playing style was close to perfection according to many tennis legends; He effectively employed a flawless ‘Serve and Volley’ game to disarm his opponents. His ‘Serve and Volley’ game was augmented by well placed, rocket paced ground shots and contrasting feather touched drop shots. The technique often prevented his opponents from reaching the tennis ball well within time on the court. Rod laver was the master in deploying topspin to his shots; in 1960 he improvised the lob shot by executing it with an attacking topspin. Rod Laver's left handed serves were disguising to his opponent due to intelligently employed variations of pace and swing to it.
As a young school boy Rod Laver renounced an academic career in favor of tennis. After leaving his school, Rod Laver was coached first by Charlie Hollis in Queensland followed by Harry Hopman who was the captain of Australian Davis Cup Team. Harry Hopman gave Laver the nickname “Rocket”, apparently as tennis ball fired at a herculean pace after receiving execution instructions from Rod Laver’s Racket. Rod Laver claimed the U.S. junior championship in the year 1956 and its Australian counterpart in the year 1957. Rod Laver made his mark on the global tennis court in the year 1959 when he forced his way into all three finals of Wimbledon tournament. Rod Laver grabbed the cup of mixed doubles in this tournament in association with his partner Darlene Hard. Rod Laver claimed his first singles title in the year 1960 at the Australian Championship defeating his fellow country player Neale Fraser. In the year 1962 Rod Laver became the second male player after Don Budge to win single titles of all four Grand Slams in a particular year. In addition to that Rod Laver also grabbed seventeen other titles in the same year.
After winning the Grand Slam in the year 1962 Rod Laver became one among the top notch professionals and positioned himself among the leaders of professional tennis players like Ken Rosewall, Pancho Gonzales and Lew Hoad. In the coming seven years Laver won five times the U.S. Pro Championships, including four consecutive wins subsequent to 1966. From the years 1963 to 1965 Rod Laver showed considerable improvement against the toughest opponents of his time namely Ken Rosewall and Lew Hoad. Initially Rod laver registered miserable losses against these Rosewall and Hoad , however by 1965 Rod Laver was able to distinctly established himself as world’s number one player claiming seventeen reputed titles. In the process Rod Laver registered 13 wins against nearest rival Rosewall. In the year 1967, Rod Laver emerged as winner of the three tournaments namely US Professional Championships, Wembley Championships and the French Professional Championships.
Rod Laver had an equally successful record after the emergence of Open Era post 1968, registering five major grand slam victories in two seasons, Rod claimed Wimbledon single tile by defeating Fellow Australian Tony Roche in straight sets. However Rod lost miserably against arch rival Ken Rosewall in the French Open Final. In 1969 Rod Laver avenged his French open defeat by winning the French open against Ken in straight sets. Rod also registered victories against Andres Gimeno and John Newcombe in the finals of Wimbledon and Australian Open. In the same year Laver and Tony Roche once again faced each other during the US open finals with a similar result to their previous encounter. Post 1970 Rod laver started to slow down a bit with participation in selective events, however Rod Laver still managed to maintain a very healthy win-loss ratio of almost 80%. The Strategy of conserving energy worked for laver and he managed to grab 45 titles post his 30th birthday.
Rod Laver opted for a semi retirement in the year 1975 from mainstream professional tennis. In 1981 Rod Laver's name was included in the Hall of fame list of Tennis Players. Rod Laver was bestowed the title of MBE on the occasion of the queens birthday in 1970 in recognition to his achievements in the field of Tennis. Rod Laver is also a Living Australian Treasure. Rod Laver Currently lives in Carlsbad, California, U.S.

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver vs Tony Roche USO F 1969 (1 of 4)

Tennis - Wimbledon Finale 1969 - Rod Laver vs.John Newcombe

Rod Laver

Rod Laver Biography
Born on: August 9, 1938
Born in: Rockhampton, Australia
Nationality: Australian
Career: Professional Tennis Player
Rod Laver is a former tennis player from Australia. He was the World No.1 tennis player for seven consecutive years. He is also the only tennis player who has won Grand Slam singles title twice; first as an amateur in 1962 and then as a professional in 1969.
Childhood
Rodney George Laver was born on August 9, 1938 in Rockhampton, Australia. His father Roy was a cattle rancher while his mother Melba Roffey was a tennis player. He was interested in the game of tennis since his childhood days. His mother was a tennis player herself, which meant that he had begun to play the game when he was very small.
It is very interesting to note that every home the family lived in had a tennis court on the premises. Laver was a young boy when he left school to pursue tennis. Subsequently, he started training under Charlie Hollis in Queensland and later under the Australian Davis Cup team captain Harry Hopman. He was the one who gave Laver the nickname 'Rocket'.
Early Career
As an amateur player, Laver was somewhat flashy. But inspite of being of a slightly short stature, he developed a very good serve and volley style. His serves were very aggressive as was his stroke-play. He had a very good technique; his stroke play was based on some quick shoulder turns, huge swings and some exquisite timing. This combination of speed and strength earned him the nickname 'Rocket'.
After leaving school, he started his training under Charlie Hollis in Queensland and later under the Davis Cup team captain Harry Hopman. Laver won the U.S junior championship in the year 1956 and the Australian junior championship in 1957. During the year 1962, Laver became the second male player after Don Budge who won all four Grand Slam singles title in the same year and won an additional 17 titles as well.
Professional Career
After Laver successfully completed the Grand Slam in the year 1962, he turned a professional tennis player. He established himself as one of the leading players. He also went on to win the U.S. Pro Championships five times, including four in a row, starting with the 1966 tournament. During the early part of 1963, Laver was beaten by Roswell and Hoad. While Hoad won 8 matches against Laver, Rosewall won 11 out of the 13 he played against Laver. But, by the end of the year, Laver succeeded in climbing to the No.2 professional position; just behind Rosewall.
During 1964, Laver and Rosewall both went on to win seven titles, but Laver defeated Rosewall 12 times out of the 15 times they faced each other. Laver won two important titles in the same year as well, the U.S. Pro Championship and the Wembley Pro Championship. In 1966, he became the World No.1 professional player, winning 15 titles and 13 of the 18 matches he played against Rosewall.
In the next year, Laver went on to win an impressive 15 events, including the U.S Pro Championships, the Wembley Pro Championship and the French Pro Championship. It was in the year 1968 that the open era began. It was the time when professional players were given chance to compete in Grand Slam events. In 1968, Laver became Wimbledon's first open era champion, after he beat American Arthur Ashe in a semifinal match. He won the tournament by beating Tony Roche in the final, in straight sets.

In 1969, Laver won all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year for the second time in a row. He won 18 out of 32 singles tournaments he entered and compiled a 106-16 win-loss record. He went on to set a record of 31 consecutive match victories at Wimbledon between the years 1961 and 1970. His winning streak lasted till the year 1980 when it was broken by Bjorn Borg. Laver's toughest match was the 90-game semifinal against Roche at the Australian Open in the hot, sultry conditions. His various other opponents at the Australian Open included players like Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle and Andres Gimeno.

In 1970, Laver won 13 titles and US $201,453 in prize money, which included the 'Tennis Championship Classic' and five other events; namely - Sydney Dunlop Open Championship, Philadelphia Championship, Wembley Championship, Los Angeles Championship and the South African Open Championship. He successfully defended his title at the 'Tennis Championship Classic' during 1971, winning 13 consecutive matches against some of toughest opponents. His prize money for the Championship was US $ 160,000.

During 1971 and 1972, Laver finished as the leader in the WCT points table. However, his participation in the tournaments stopped at the beginning of 1972 because of his back and knee injury. He came back in the year 1973 and went on to win seven tournaments and also participated in the final of the Davis Cup. Later, the next year he won six of the thirteen tournaments that he played and ended the year as the World No.4. It was the year 1975 when he set a record for WCT tournaments by winning four titles and 23 matches, consecutively.
The press, especially the Daily Telegraph ranked Laver as the World No.1 in 1961 and 1962 (as an amateur) and in 1963 and 1969 (as a professional). Laver was introduced into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1970. In the year 1978, Rod Laver retired from Tennis.
Personal Life
In 1964, Laver met his future wife, Mary, at a fellow tennis giant Jack Kramer's country club in Los Angeles. They later got married in the year 1966.
In July of 1998, Laver was taping an interview for ESPN at a Los Angeles hotel when he suddenly had a major stroke. As a result, he spent 13 days in intensive care unit. He began physical therapy two weeks after the stroke, and had to relearn how to speak, walk, write, and even dress himself. But slowly, he regained use of the right side of his body. Laver left the hospital after seven weeks, and within a couple more weeks he was working lightly at the golf course using a club as his support.
Subsequently, he began to familiarize himself with tennis again, assisted by local professional player Tommy Tucker. During May 1999, Laver's recovery was thorough enough to allow him to present Andre Agassi with the trophy for his victory in the French Open.
 Grand Slam Titles
1959 - Australian Doubles; Wimbledon Mixed Doubles
1960 - Australian Singles; Australian Doubles; Wimbledon Mixed Doubles
1961 - Wimbledon Singles; Australian Doubles; French Doubles; French Mixed Doubles
1962 - Australian Singles; French Singles; Wimbledon Singles; U.S. Singles
1968 - Wimbledon Singles
1969 - Australian Open Singles; French Open Singles; Wimbledon Singles; U.S. Open Singles; Australian Open Doubles
1971 - Wimbledon Doubles

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

 

Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver talking about Federer, Djokovic and some other tennis players

Rod Laver vs. Ken Rosewall - Roland Garros 1969 Final Highlights (HD) (Last Set)