Tennis Special Report: The Four Men to achieve Grand Slams in the Open Era- Rod Laver (Part 1)
A career Grand Slam consists of victory at all four Majors, not necessarily within the same calendar year. These Majors are the Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimbledon Championship and the US Open.
The seven men to achieve this feat are known as the Magnificent Seven. These men are Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Of these seven men, the four players from Open Era are Australian Rod Laver,
American Andre Agassi, Swiss Roger Federer and Spanish Rafael Nadal. In part one of this feature, Rod Laver and significant moments of his career will be relived.
Rodney George “Rod” Laver is an Australian tennis player who remained the World Number 1 for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970. He was 24 years old when he turned pro, in the year 1962. His career is considered one of the most illustrious ones in
the world of tennis, and he is widely acknowledged as one of the Kings of the Court.
Rod Laver is the only male player during the Open Era to have won two calendar year Grand Slams during his career. His first Grand Slam was won as an amateur in 1964, and his second such victory came at the age of 29 in 1969. He holds 11 Grand Slam titles
in total, and remains the second and last professional player to win all the Majors titles in a year twice.
Laver was a left-handed player, with a one handed backhand. He played men’s singles during his tenure as a professional tennis player, with his career record for victories to defeat at 79.8%, with 392 wins to 99 losses in the Open Era. Rod Laver won at least
198 career titles, as listed by the ATP. For men’s doubles, his career record is 230-77, with a 74.9% win rate. He won 27 titles at doubles, and his highest ranking was World Number 11.
Rod Laver won every Grand Slam title at least once. His victories are numbered at three Australian Open titles, two French Open victories, four Wimbledon successes and two US Open wins. He won the Grand Slam titles twice, once before the Open Era in 1962,
and once after in 1969. Apart from that, he won the Australian Open in 1960 and Wimbledon in 1961 and 1968 as well.
After the dawn of the Open Era, Laver was Wimbledon’s first champion in the year 1968. He was the runner up to Ken Rosewall in the first Open Era French Open. However, his real victories in the Open Era began in 1969. At the Australian Open, he competed
against players such as Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle and Andres Gimeno. His most difficult match was a record breaking semi final against Tony Roche, consisting of 90 games. At the French Open, Laver defeated Gimeno, Tom Okker and Ken Rosewall once again. Within
this year at Wimbledon, Laver successfully manoeuvred his way around players such as Stan Smith, Cliff Drysdale, Arthur Ashe and John Newcombe. At the final tournament, which made him a tennis legend, Laver defeated Dennis Ralston, Roy Emerson, Arthur Ashe
and Tony Roche.
Rod Laver’s success was a testament to his versatility and adaptability, with wins on grass, clay and hard court. Laver also won $124,000 US Dollars in prize money, becoming the first player to surpass the $100,000 Dollar limit in one year. Laver retired
as a phenomenon in 1979, with a total career earning of US $1,564,213. He is now 72 years old and lives in Carlsbad, California, US.
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