All posts tagged Rod Laver

In Mens Tennis

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The 1968 season in mens tennis was a critical one in the advancement and growth of tennis. Previous to this season the mens tennis world was in an era that we know as the amateur era in mens tennis. The amateur era refers to the era in which only players that were not professionals were allowed to play in Grand Slam events.

The amateur era officially ended after the first Grand Slam event of the year. After the amateur era the beginning of the open era would begin. The term open era simply refers to the era in which professionals and amateurs can both play in Grand Slam events.

The first grand slam event of the year would be the Australian Open. This would be the last tournament of the amateur era and it would be won by William Bowrey. Bowrey had never won a Grand Slam event previous to this one and he would actually never win another Grand Slam event in his career. Despite the fact that he had a relatively insignificant career outside of this victory he will always be remembered as the last victor of the amateur era.

The beginning of the open era featured a couple of players that had not won Grand Slam tournaments in years. These players were able to bounce back in this year after not winning Grand Slam events for more than 6 years.

The first tournament of the open era was the French Open. The French Open would be won by Ken Rosewall. Rosewall made a remarkable comeback after not winning a Grand Slam event for 12 years. He had won 4 Grand Slam tournaments in 4 years, but then did not win for 12 years. His victory in the tournament turned around his career and he was able to win three more Grand Slam tournaments after that victory.

Rod Laver would be the winner of Wimbledon in 1968. Rod Laver was formerly a dominant player in Mens tennis. In 1962 he won every Grand Slam Event in the year. He did not win another event until 1968, but this victory set him on a dominant streak. This victory helped him bounce back and he went on to take all four Grand Slam Events in the 1969 season. This victory set him on path towards being the most dominant player of the beginning of the open era.

The last tournament of the year would be the US Open. The US Open would not be won by a former champion, like the last two majors. Instead Arthur Ashe was able to win the first Grand Slam of his career. He was a very relevant player at this time and this victory would be one of three Grand Slam victories over the course of his career.

In tennis today you will often hear that a player has the most wins in any given event since the beginning of the open era. 1968 is when all of that changed and the open era of which is spoken about commenced.

Top Five Left-Handed Tennis Players

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With over 90% of all humans on the planet being right-handed, one would assume that the list of all-time tennis greats would be dominated by those who swing their rackets from the right. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. Despite being in a definite minority, southpaws can boast of a slew of great tennis players from both the men’s and women’s side of the game. Here are the top five left-handed tennis players of all-time:

Rafael Nadal

The only active player to make the list, Nadal has won six Grand Slam titles to date despite playing in the same era as Roger Federer, who some consider to be the greatest tennis player of all time. Nadal is perhaps most famous for his success on clay courts, with over 160 victories on the surface since 2005.

John McEnroe

McEnroe was one of the most successful players of the 1970s, with seven Grand Slam titles to his name. While he may have possessed the best lefty backhand in the history of tennis, McEnroe is perhaps best remembered for his temper and the many heated arguments he had with line judges on the court. In addition to being a great left-handed player he is also known as The Bad Boy of Tennis.

Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors was fortunate enough to make 15 Grand Slam title matches and win eight of them. A contemporary of another left-handed tennis great, John McEnroe, the two had many famous championship matches against each other during their careers. The calm professionalism of Connors proved to be the perfect foil for the hot-headed McEnroe and made for an engaging spectacle.

Martina Navratilova

The only woman to make the top five, Navratilova is widely regarded as the greatest female player of all time. Her accomplishments in the game of tennis are staggering: 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

Rod Laver

When most modern tennis fans discuss the greatest players ever, the conversation is usually dominated by recent names (and right-handers) such as Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. While these players certainly belong in the discussion, the accomplishments of Rod Laver are often overlooked because of the era in which he played. The Australian Laver won 11 Grand Slam titles in the 1960s and 1970s and was one of the best amateur tennis players in the world for years prior to that. He is one of only five players to win Grand Slam tournaments on each of the three surfaces of grass, clay, and hardcourt.

Nasty – Steffi – Maggie – Who Is The Best Tennis Player Of All Time

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The first question that comes to mind may be; man or woman? In my view it could be either gender, because this is about tennis the sport as an all inclusive theme:

-Race
-Sex
-Charisma
-Personality
-Popularity
-Shot-making
-Grace
-Toughness
-Grit
-Guts
-Coolness
-Charm
-Image
-Power
-Athleticism
-Spirit of sacrifice
-Fairness
-Bully-ness
-Competitiveness
-Respect
-Record
-and more.

If one was to limit this analysis to plain cold numbers and to one gender or the other it would be simple, Bjorn Borg or Rod Laver – men, Martina Navratilova or Steffi Graff – women.

Tennis is a lot more than that, take for example charisma and popularity:

– For example, in 1974 Illie Nastase was playing on court Nr. 6 in Barcelona against Roger Taylor and Manolo Orantes (the super popular local matador) was playing Jos Moreno on central court at the same time. Which court do you think was full and which was empty?
Illie Nastases court was full! The Spanish, are great lovers of great tennis and showmanship – Nasty gave it all to them. I would say he had to be the most charismatic tennis player of all time!

About race and respect:

– Take Arthur Ashe an African-American man living in the USA in an era where he, a world class tennis player, was not even allowed into the changing rooms of certain tennis clubs in his own country. This man overcame all sporting challenges, all racial abuse, all social inequalities and became a beloved son of his country and the world! The all-time most respected gentleman tennis player in tennis history.

Tennis and shot-making:

– We all know Rod Laver because he is the only player to ever win 4 Grand Slam singles titles in the same calendar year twice – in 1962 as an amateur and 1969 as a professional and he is the only male player during the open era to have won a calendar year Grand Slam (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open).
His opponents knew something that the regular public could hardly come to grasp. They all came out of the court baffled with his shot-making under pressure. Rod Laver, time and time again, got out of the most daring situations many of them at match points, by producing the most incredible and least expected shots his opponents could ever imagine he would go for! Indeed the best shot-maker ever!

The Guts and Athleticism:

– Two women come clearly to mind Margret Court and Martina Navratilova, to appreciate these two incredible women athletes, you have to look at todays mens tennis and see how the great majority of the ATP professionals cower behind the baseline. These two women embarrass those men players with their courageous, relentless, top level athleticism by having served and volleyed and attacked the net with giant hearts and incredible guts! No question the very best ever and I must have Billy Jean King join them.

And how about Grace:

– You can go around the tennis court and beat the hell out of your opponents and nobody will ever give a hoot about you. That was not the case of Maria Ester Bueno from Brasil, she charmed the public with the beauty of her movement, fluidness of her game and some very sharp volleying. The most graceful of all time and I must add two others in this department Evonne Goolagong and Roger Federer.

The power juggernaut:

– You may start to think about a,b or c player from today, but you have to go back many decades to a man called Lew Hoad. If there is any one player that could obliterate unceremoniously any player of any given era with a very short score, Lew Hoad is such player. Hands down, the hardest hitter of all time!

The heart of tennis – competitiveness and bully-ness:

– There is no player in the history of tennis that is regarded by his peers with so much respect as fear and loath. Pancho Gonzales was a natural born winner with a big W. If he lost (which he seldom did), his hand shake at the net often came with a warning: I will beat you the next time! The most competitive bully of all time. Here I must join two lesser heavy weights in this department, nevertheless ferocious competitors, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. Between meeting any one of these three on a tennis court and sitting in a tub full of rattle snakes, I would choose the latter.

The fairness in professional sport:

– Defeat for a champion is the most difficult part to accept and giving credit to your opponent is even more challenging. Steffi Graf was the exception, even when injured and debilitated, she never mentioned it as an excuse for defeat and she would rather compliment her opponents. Indeed a great championess and the fairest player of all time. No wonder she married Andre Agassi he was special in that department too.

There is plenty more but, I hope I gave you a sense of how great the game of tennis is with all of these facets that so much form a mosaic of where winning is important, but the record alone cannot cover the whole sport.