Background

Rodney George Laver was born to Roy and his wife Melba, in Rockhampton, a city in Queensland, Australia, on August 9, 1938. Roy worked as a butcher, and the family consisted of four children.

Education

Rod Laver's parents were tournament-caliber players. They won almost all singles and mixed doubles in every tournament they could play in and around their place of living. It wasn't strange that all their four children, including Rod, began playing the game at an early age: the family had a tennis court near every house they ever lived in, so kids had regular practice with their mother. Competing with his older brothers from the age of six, Rod Laver, a thirteen-year-old boy, challenged his brother Bob in the junior final of the Central Queensland championship, held, naturally, on the Laver's court.

A member of a tennis camp supported by a Brisbane newspaper, Rod captured the eye of a noted tennis player who captained Australia's Davis Cup team for a long time, Harry Hopman. Hopman invited Rod to train in Queensland and began improving the left-handed game of the budding tennis player. After missing two months of studies because of jaundice in 1953, Laver, with his father's permission, left school and devoted all his time to tennis. With Hopman's help, the young boy got a job with a sporting goods firm in Brisbane. Three years later, a member of the Australian Davis Cup squad by the time, Rod Laver triumphed at the United States Junior Championship and the Australia Junior Championship.

Career

The start of Rod Laver's career can be counted from 1957 when he was called up for military service in the Australian Army. A year later, Laver came back to the court, in the amateur rankings, and in June defeated one of America's top-seeded players, Barry MacKay in the second round of London's Queen's Club Tournament. At the time of that victory, Laver was ranked only eighth in Australia. In 1959, Laver along with Neale Fraser and Roy Emerson won the Americans in the Davis Cup. Though Laver lost twice, his performance did not go unnoticed. At the time, he was developing his reputation for risky play. The Wimbledon mixed doubles of that same year, with Darlene Hard, was successful for Laver. He lost to Alex Olmedo at Forest Hills, going all the way to the finals.

The year 1960 was pivotal for Laver. In the first major tournament of the year, the Australian National championships, he faced his Davis Cup teammate Fraser in the finals. Down two sets, Laver came back to win his first major title. Fraser won Laver back in the finals at Wimbledon and at Forest Hills, though Rod managed to earn a trophy from the United States championships, in mixed doubles. In December, Laver and Fraser returned to being teammates to beat Italy in the Davis Cup finals.

Laver failed to defend his Australian championship a year later, losing in the finals, the same as he did at Forest Hills. Wimbledon was more successful for him as he took down Chuck McKinley of the United States. Laver rejected Jack Kramer's offer to go on a pro tour as he was more focused on the Grand Slam tournaments to which he would be barred if he turned pro.

1962 began for Laver with the victory over Roy Emerson in the finals of the Australian championship which was followed by two more straight wins on Emerson in Paris and Rome, though he was two sets down in the French championships. At Wimbledon, Laver needed less than 52 minutes to beat his fellow countryman Martin Mulligan. With three of the four majors to his credit, Rod Laver was regarded as a favorite of the 1962 Forest Hills tournament.

Laver made the finals where he met Emerson again winning him in four sets. Later that same year, Laver and Emerson teamed up in Davis Cup to earn the event for their country for the eleventh time in 13 years. That Davis Cup turned to be the last for Laver for about a decade.

Laver turned professional in 1963. In his first pro match, Laver was defeated by Lew Hoad of Australia and went on to lose his next three professional matches, as well, until taking hold in the pro ranks. Life in the pros was, however, far from romantic or even illustrious. At the time, the professional tennis supposed long drives in a station wagon from one gym to another across the country, playing exhibition matches in front of a few hundred spectators at best. The 1964 final of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships played in a raging storm, in which Laver won Pancho Gonzalez to earn the title, was indicative of the difficulties of the early pro tour.

Unfortunately, Laver's decision to turn pro automatically withdrew him from the competition in the world's major titles, still amateur affairs at the time. Thus he missed the years 1963-1967 at any of the Grand Slams. However, he continued to dominate the game, despite all inclement conditions, until the introduction of open tournaments in 1968, when he won the first open Wimbledon championship, defeating Tony Roche in under an hour.

Laver's first strong competition in his run for a second Grand Slam came early in 1969 at the Australian Open when he and Roche led 80 games over four hours. After that, Laver defeated Andres Gimeno in the final. At the finals of the French Open, Laver took over his Australian fellow Dick Crealy in straight sets. He also earned the fourth Wimbledon in his career that same year.

Laver moved on to the U.S. Open, still held on grass in 1969. Despite the rains set in, Laver triumphed in the final against Roche in four sets. That year, Laver met the best amateur or pro players of the world and prevailed over them all.

The next year was much less glorious. Laver didn't manage to defend any of his Grand Slam titles and lost the U.S. Pro title for the first time since 1966. In 1971, though failing at all major tournaments exсept the Italian Open, he collected six victories of 25 smaller tournaments, winning 78 of 86 matches.

Two years later, Laver and John Newcombe defeated the duet of the United States in doubles of Davis Cup. Rod Laver contributed a lot to Australia's victories in 1972, 1974, and 1975 World Cups, a team competition that has since been closed. As late as 1976, he joined the San Diego team in World Team Tennis and was named the league's Rookie of the Year. Laver competed on the pro circuit until his retirement in 1978.

Following his retirement, Laver continued playing tennis in the senior tour. In addition, he served for Nabisco Brands, acting as an ambassador for its participation in different sporting events around the world. The noted Australian ran tennis clinics, provided speeches, and met a lot of partners.

Achievements

• 

  Rod Laver went down in the history of tennis as one of its greatest representatives. Retiring from the sport at the end of the 1970s, he left behind an illustrious career including two Grand Slams, 11 major titles, 47 pro titles, and 13 years in the World Top Ten. Playing on all kinds of courts – grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet – he earned in total 200 singles titles that is the best result for a tennis player to date.
  
  Laver's five-set battle with Ken Rosewall at the World Championship of Tennis held in 1972, in Dallas, Texas, has been considered by many as the greatest match of the century. Additionally, he earned over $1.5 million in his career, making him the all-time money winner of his day.
  
  Three years after retirement from tennis, Laver was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He subsequently became an inductee of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, Queensland Sport Hall of Fame, and the Southern California Tennis Hall of Fame. The Australian legend was named National Living Treasure by the country's government.
  
  Laver was the recipient of numerous honours, including the Order of Australia (Companion), the Order of the British Empire, and the Australian Sports Medal, among others. In 2000, Centre Court at Melbourne Park (home of the Australian Open) was named Rod Laver Arena to celebrate the noted Australian, and, in 2017, the Laver Cup was established. The annual event hosts two six-player teams (Team Europe and Team World). In the early 2000s, Laver, as his fellow Australian tennis star, Margaret Court, was featured on a postage stamp by the Australia Post Australian Legends Award.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Golden Era: the Extraordinary Two Decades when Australians Ruled the Tennis World

    (Written with all of Laver's incredible tennis knowledge, ...)

    2019
  • Rod Laver: An Autobiography

    (The inspiring Laver's memoir of how a diminutive, left-ha...)

    2014
  • The Education of a Tennis Player

    (Coauthored with renowned tennis expert Bud Collins, the f...)

    1971
  • How to Play Championship Tennis

    (A volume coauthored with sports journalist and writer Jac...)

    1965
  • Rod Laver's Tennis Digest

    (A volume from Rod Laver edited by Bud Collins.)

    1973
  • Tennis for the Bloody Fun of It

    (A book by Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.)

    1976
  • 228 Tennis Tips

    (A tennis guide by Rod Laver.)

    1983

Views

Quotations: "There's a lot of ingredients go into being a good tennis player."

"The time your game is most vulnerable is when you're ahead; never let up."

"Each match is a huge effort from a physical point of view. You can only hit so many balls before your elbow or some part of your body is going to say, 'Hey, don't do that to me.'"

"Players who win on a clay surface are those who can control the ball, playing steadily and accurately from the back-court, keeping the ball in play and moving it around with changes of speed and spin, and resisting the temptation to overhit."

"Tennis was a big part of my life from as far back as I can remember."

"As a tennis player, you have a record, and that is what counts. I feel like I enjoyed myself, and I'm proud of what I accomplished."

"I don't want to get blase about being recognized. It's pretty amazing."

"The next point – that's all you must think about."

"When you've got your man down, rub him out."

"When you have the opportunity, you strike."

Personality

Rod Laver was nicknamed "Rocket" by his coach Harry Hopman for his youthful grit, determination, and work ethic. Though his serve was not huge, he could disguise it well and place it in the corners of the service box.

Rod Laver combined strength of will and determination on the court. He had no weak spots for his opponents to attack. He was good at the net, learning an aggressive game from Hopman, but particularly excelled in the backcourt.

Hopman taught Laver's behavior on and off the court. A true sportsman, Rod led a usually quiet game and was a strongly private individual who gave interviews very rarely.

Physical Characteristics: Medium build, Rod Laver was 1.73 meters tall. Laver did not have a perfect tennis body. Relatively short, he made up by speed and agility on the court for his lack of height. Left-handed, he developed his left forearm considerably after hitting thousands of tennis balls.

Laver had a stroke during an interview in 1999 which affected the sensory receptors on his right side. The rehabilitation program from qualified speech and physical therapists helped Laver recover his speech and movement. Tennis was a part of the therapy as well.

Quotes from others about the person

• Rex Bellamy: "The strength of that wrist and forearm gave him blazing power without loss of control, even when he was on the run and at full stretch. The combination of speed and strength, especially wrist strength, enabled him to hit ferocious winners when way out of court."
  
  Ted Schroeder, American tennis player: "You take all the criteria – longevity, playing on grass and clay, amateur, professional, his behaviour, his appearance – in all criteria, Laver's the best player of all time."
  
  Tony Trabert, former amateur tennis player, author, TV commentator and instructor: "I still maintain that Rod Laver is the best player who ever played the game because he's done something no one has ever done in the 120 or 140-year history of our sport: he won the Grand Slam as an amateur and he won the Grand Slam as a pro. If someone in some other sport held a world record no one else had, you would say that person was the best in that sport. So in my view, you've got to say Laver is the best player of all time."
  
  Bud Collins, American journalist and TV sportscaster: "I remain unconvinced that there ever was a better player than Rod Laver."

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  American football, golf, San Diego Chargers

Connections

Rod Laver met his wife-to-be, Mary Benson, at fellow tennis giant Jack Kramer's country club in Los Angeles. Rod was shy to such an extent that he asked the intermediary to help him join Mary's company. The couple entered wedlock in 1966. Mary had three sons from a previous marriage, Ron, Steve and Ann, and gave birth to Rod's son, Rick.

Father:

Roy Laver

(born 1898)

Roy Laver came from a family of 13 children, all of whom played tennis.

Mother:

Melba Laver

(née Roffey; born May 9, 1910 – died October 12, 1995)

Melba was a tournament-caliber tennis player. She met her husband-to-be, Rod's father, at a tournament in the Queensland town of Dingo, Australia.

late spouse:

Mary Laver

(née Benson; died November 2012)

Son:

Rick Laver

coach:

Harry Hopman

(born August 12, 1906 – died December 27, 1985)

Harry Hopman, byname of Henry Christian Hopman, was an Australian tennis player. He was Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

References

• The Professional Tennis Archive The book contains over 420 pages of professional tennis results in addition to a narrative section of over 100 pages. Such winners of the pro circuit as Rod Laver, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, Pancho Gonzales, Tony Trabert, Lew Hoad, and others are featured.
  2019
• Rod Laver's Twitter