Rod Laver

"For the arena in Melbourne Park used for show matches in the Australian Open, see Rod Laver Arena"

Infobox Tennis player
playername= Rod Laver


country= Australia
residence= Carlsbad, California, U.S.
datebirth= birth date and age|df=yes|1938|8|9
placebirth= Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
height= height|m=1.72|precision=0
weight=
turnedpro= 1962
(Started playing in 1956)
retired= 1979
plays= Left-handed
careerprizemoney= US$1,564,213
singlesrecord= 392–99 (79.8%) in the Open era as recorded by the ATP
singlestitles= at least 185 including 40 listed by the ATP
highestsinglesranking= 1
AustralianOpenresult= W (1960, 1962, 1969)
FrenchOpenresult= W (1962, 1969)
Wimbledonresult= W (1961, 1962, 1968, 1969)
USOpenresult= W (1962, 1969)
doublesrecord= 230–77 (74.9%) in the ATP statistics
doublestitles= 27 in the ATP statistics
highestdoublesranking=11 in the ATP statistics
updated= N/A

Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE (born 9 August 1938, in Rockhampton, Australia) is a former tennis player from Australia who arguably was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970. He is the only tennis player to have twice won all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year — first as an amateur in 1962 and second as a professional in 1969. He is the only male player during the open era to have won a calendar year Grand Slam. Laver has been rated as the greatest male player of all time by several experts and polls. [ [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14489546 Bud Collins on MSNBC (2006)] ] [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9910-1165988,00.html Alistair Campbell and others on Times Online (2004)] ] [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/13/SPGGPL4KST1.DTL Bruce Jenkins in San Francisco Chronicle (2006)] ] [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/01/15/stfede15.xml David Miller in Daily Telegraph (2007)] ] [ [http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=528242#top The Tennis Week Interview: Tony Trabert] ] [ [http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Tennis/ATP/2004/08/01/565759.html John Barrett and Peter Burwash (2004)] ] [ [http://www.tennisserver.com/lines/lines_00_12_23.html Ray Bowers on Tennis Server (2000)] ] [ [http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=503656 Raymond Lee: The greatest tennis player of all time. A statistical Analysis, on Tennis week, 14 September 2007] ]

Playing style

Although of a slightly short stature and medium build (1.72m), Laver developed a technically complete serve-and-volley game, with aggressive groundstrokes to back it up. As Dan Maskell put it, he was "technically faultless, from his richly varied serve to his feather-light touch on drop volleys plus a backhand drive carrying destructive topspin when needed or controlling slice when the situation demanded it." His left-handed serve was well disguised and wide swinging. His wristy groundstrokes on both flanks were hit with topspin, an innovation in the 1960s, as was the attacking topspin lob, which Laver developed into a weapon. His stroke technique was based on quick shoulder turns, true swings, and exquisite timing. His backhand, often hit on the run, was a point-ender that gave him an advantage. Laver was very quick and mobile and had a gigantic left forearm. Rex Bellamy wrote, "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." At the net, he had forcing volleys, often hit as stroke volleys. Especially on the backhand, he could hit sharp underspin angles as well. Julius Heldman pointed out, "He is competent on low balls, handling them with underspin for control, but he will cream any ball at waist level or higher." He was difficult to lob, because of his springing agility, and when forced to retreat, he could come up with a vicious counterpunch.

As an amateur, Laver was a somewhat flashy player, often a late starter. He had to learn to control his adventurous shotmaking and integrate percentage tennis into his game when he turned professional. In his prime, he could adapt his style to all surfaces and to all conditions. Laver had a great record in five-set-matches, often turning things around with subtle changes of tactics or by simply hitting his way out of danger. When he got into the "zone," he went for broke. Then he would, as Heldman explains, "literally jump and throw his racket at the ball with all the force he could muster, wrist and arm snapping over at the hit."

Career

Amateur career

Laver was a young boy when he left school to pursue a tennis career that lasted 23 years. He was coached in Queensland by Charlie Hollis and later by the Australian Davis Cup team captain Harry Hopman, who gave Laver the nickname "Rocket."

Laver was the U.S. junior champion in 1956 and the Australian junior champion in 1957. He had his breakthrough on the world stage in 1959, when he reached all three finals at Wimbledon, winning the mixed doubles title with Darlene Hard. As an unseeded player, he lost the singles final to Peruvian Alex Olmedo after surviving an 87-game semifinal against American Barry MacKay. His first major singles title was the Australian Championships in 1960, where he defeated fellow Australian Neale Fraser in a five-set final. He then captured his first Wimbledon singles crown in 1961.

In 1962, Laver became only the second male player after Don Budge in 1938 to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year and won an additional 17 titles. Among those titles were the Italian Championships and the German Championships, giving Laver the "clay court triple" of Paris, Rome, and Hamburg that had been achieved previously only by Lew Hoad in 1956. The biggest hurdle to Laver's winning the Grand Slam was the French Championships on slow clay, where Laver won three consecutive five-setters beginning with the quarterfinals. In his quarterfinal with Martin Mulligan, Laver saved a matchpoint in the fourth set with a backhand volley after coming to the net behind a second serve. In the final, Laver lost the first two sets and was down 0–3 in the fourth set before coming back to defeat Roy Emerson. At Wimbledon, his progress was much easier. Laver lost only one set the whole tournament, to Manuel Santana in a quarterfinal, who held a set point for a two set lead. At the U.S. Championships, Laver lost only two sets during the tournament and defeated Emerson again in the final.

At the time, the Grand Slam events were open only to amateur players, who were given (under the table) little more than cost-of-living money for their appearances in tournaments.

Professional career

Before the open era

Laver turned professional after completing the Grand Slam in 1962. He quickly established himself among the leading professional players such as Pancho Gonzales and Ken Rosewall. During the next seven years, Laver won the U.S. Pro Championships five times, including four in a row beginning in 1966. In the first half of 1963, Laver was beaten badly by both Rosewall and Hoad. Hoad won the first 8 matches against Laver, and Rosewall won 11 out of 13. By the end of the year, however, with four tournament titles, Laver had become the No. 2 professional player behind Rosewall. [ a) "The History of Professional Tennis" by Joe McCauley : Chapter 27 title, p. 123 :"New pro Laver takes second place to Rosewall, b) " - Rod Laver - The red-headed rocket from Rockhampton" by Betty Laver (Rod's sister-in-law) p. 61 and 153, c) Earl "Butch" Buchholz in World Tennis Volume 13 Number 8 (January 1966) p. 38 ]

In 1964, Laver and Rosewall both won seven important titles (plus four minor events), but Laver won 12 of 15 matches against Rosewall and captured two major titles, the U.S. Pro Championships over Gonzales and the Wembley Pro Championship over Rosewall, signalling the change of pro leadership. [ [http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=6613914 Flash Points: Matches That Changed The Course Of Tennis History ] ] The Wembley final was perhaps the best match ever between Laver and Rosewall. [ [http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=6613914 Flash Points: Matches That Changed The Course Of Tennis History ] ] Laver came back from 3-5 down in the fifth set and won it 8-6. [ [http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=6613914 Flash Points: Matches That Changed The Course Of Tennis History ] ] The other major title, the French Pro, was won by Rosewall. In 1965, Laver was clearly the No. 1 professional player [ Earl "Butch" Buchholz in World Tennis Volume 13 Number 8 (January 1966) p. 38 ] , winning 15 titles and 13 of 18 matches against Rosewall. In ten finals, Laver won eight against the still dangerous Gonzales.

In 1966, Laver won 15 events, including the U.S. Pro Championships, the Wembly Pro Championship, and eight other important tournaments. In 1967, Laver won 18 titles, including the Wimbledon Pro, the U.S. Pro Championships, the Wembley Pro Championship, and the French Pro Championship, which gave him a clean sweep of the most important professional titles. The tournament in 1967 on Wimbledon's Centre Court was the only professional event ever staged on that court before the open era began. Laver beat Rosewall in the final 6–2, 6–2, 12–10.

During the open era

With the dawn of the open era in 1968, professional players were once again allowed to compete in Grand Slam events. Laver became Wimbledon's first open era champion in 1968, beating the best amateur, American Arthur Ashe, in a semifinal and fellow-Australian Tony Roche in the final, both in straight sets. Laver was also the runner-up to Ken Rosewall in the first French Open. In this first "open" year, there were only eight open events besides Wimbledon and the French Open, where professionals, registered players, and amateurs could compete against each other. The professionals mainly played their own circuit, with two groups - National Tennis League (NTL) and World Championships Tennis (WCT) - operating. Laver was ranked No. 1 universally, winning the U.S. Professional Championships on grass and the French Pro Championship on clay (both over John Newcombe). Laver also won the last big open event of the year, the Pacific Southwest in Los Angeles on hard courts. Ashe regarded Laver's 4–6, 6–0, 6–0 final win over Rosewall as one of his finest performances. [cite book |author=Deford, Frank; Ashe, Arthur |title=Arthur Ashe: Portrait in Motion |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |location=New York |year= |pages=198 |isbn=0-7867-0050-5 |oclc= |doi=] Laver said, "This is the kind of match you always dream about. The kind you play at night in your sleep."Fact|date=December 2007

In 1969, Laver won all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year for the second time, sealing the achievement with a four-set win over Roche in the U.S. Open final. He won 18 of the 32 singles tournaments he entered and compiled a 106-16 win-loss record. In beating Newcombe in four sets in the Wimbledon final, he captured the title at the All England Club for the fourth consecutive time that he had entered the tournament (and reached the final for the sixth consecutive time as he had been runner-up in 1959 and 1960). He set a record of 31 consecutive match victories at Wimbledon between 1961 and 1970, which lasted until 1980 when it was eclipsed by Björn Borg. Unlike his first Grand Slam year in 1962, Laver in 1969 played in events open to all the best professional and amateur players of the world. In the year's Grand Slam tournaments, Laver had five five-set-matches, twice coming back from two sets down in early rounds. In the four finals, however, he lost a total of only two sets. His hardest match was a marathon 90-game semifinal against Roche at the Australian Open under tropical hot conditions. Other opponents at the Australian Open included Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, and Andres Gimeno. At the French Open, Laver beat Gimeno, Tom Okker, and Rosewall. At Wimbledon, Laver overcame strong challenges from Stan Smith, Cliff Drysdale, Ashe, and Newcombe. At the U.S. Open on slippery grass courts, Laver defeated Dennis Ralston, Emerson, Ashe, and Roche. Laver proved his versatility by winning the Grand Slam tournaments on grass and clay, plus the two most important hard court titles (South African Open at Ellis Park, Johannesburg and the U.S. Professional Championships at Boston) and the leading indoor tournaments (Philadelphia U.S. Pro Indoor and Wembley British Indoor). With US$124,000 in prize money, he was also the first player to break the US$100,000 barrier in a year.

In the early 1970s, Laver lost his grip on the major tournaments. He played only five Grand Slam tournaments from 1970 through 1972. This was partly due to his contracts with NTL and WCT. But on the WCT tours, he remained the leading player and by far the leading prize money winner.

In 1970, Laver won 13 titles and US$201,453 in prize money, including the rich 'Tennis Champions Classic' and five other big events (Sydney Dunlop Open, Philadelphia, Wembley, Los Angeles, South African Open). Those were the equivalent of the modern day ATP Masters Series. With only two majors played by all the best players (Wimbledon and the U.S. Open), there was no clear-cut World No. 1 in 1970. Wimbledon champion Newcombe, U.S. champion Rosewall, and Laver (who won the most titles and had a 3–0 win-loss record against Newcombe and a 5–0 record against Rosewall) were ranked the highest by different journalists and expert panels. Although Newcombe was top ranked by Lance Tingay, Newcombe wrote later in his autobiography "Newk-Life on and off the Court" (2002) that the top honour in 1970 belonged to Laver.

In 1971, Laver successfully defended his title at the "Tennis Champions Classic," winning 13 consecutive winner-take-all matches against top opponents and US$160,000. He also won seven tournaments, including the Italian Open in Rome on clay over Jan Kodes, the reigning French Open champion. For the year, Laver won a then-record US$292,717 in tournament prize money and became the first tennis player to surpass US$1 million in career prize money. In 1971 and 1972, Laver finished as the points leader of the WCT tournament series but lost the playoff finals at Dallas to Rosewall. The last match is rated as one of the best of all time and drew a TV audience of over 20 million. Beginning in 1972, Laver cut back his tournament schedule, partly due to back and knee injuries and his tennis camp businesses.

In 1973, Laver won seven tournaments and successfully participated in the semifinals and final of the Davis Cup, where he won all six of his rubbers for Australia. The following year, Laver won six of 13 tournaments and ended the year as World No. 4 on the computer. At 36, he was the oldest player during the open era to have been included in the year-ending top five. In 1975, Laver set a record for WCT tournaments by winning four titles and 23 consecutive matches but in 1976, Laver semi-retired from the main tour, playing only a few selected events. He also signed with World Team Tennis, where he became "Rookie of the Year" at the age of 38.

Laver won a record 45 open titles after he turned 30 years old. And despite his relatively advanced age, his win-loss percentage during the open era was around 80%, which places him fifth on the open era list behind Borg, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and John McEnroe but ahead of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Davis Cup

Laver helped Australia win the Davis Cup four consecutive times from 1959-62. In 1973, professionals were permitted to play in the Davis Cup for the first time, and Laver was on a winning team for the fifth time, claiming two singles and a doubles rubber in the final as Australia beat the United States 5–0.

Rivalry with Ken Rosewall

Laver had a long-running, friendly rivalry with Rosewall between 1963, when he started out as a pro, and 1976, when both were semi-retired from the main tour. Including tournaments and one-night stands, they played over 130 matches, all of them as professionals, with some results from the barnstorming pro tours lost or badly recorded. According to "Total Tennis," Laver won 62 of their matches while losing 49. Other counts and estimations by the tennis historian Robert Geist give possible results of 76-66 or 100-85 in favor of Laver. The bulk of Rosewall's wins came in the first half of 1963, when Laver was a rookie pro. Except the first year (1963) and the last year they played (1976), Laver always had a positive record against Rosewall. In the open era, a match score of 23-9 in favor of Laver can be documented, overall a score of 77-62 "(see the details in Ken Rosewall)". Laver had another, even longer rivalry with his fellow Queenslander Roy Emerson. They met first on the senior amateur tour in 1958 and dominated the amateur circuit until 1962, before Laver turned pro. When open tennis arrived in 1968, Emerson joined the pro tour, and had many new battles with Laver. Overall the score is 47-18 in favor of Laver, with 7-2 in major Grand Slam tournaments. Against the older Pancho Gonzales, whom he played 1964 to 1970 on the pro tour, Laver had a lead of 35-19 or 36-21, depending on the source. Against Arthur Ashe, Laver had a head-to-head lead of 21-3, winning all of the first 18 matches. Ashe's first win only came in 1974, when Laver was 35.

Place among the all-time great tennis players

The members of the press, notably Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph, issued subjective rankings for amateur players before the start of the open era and for all players after the start of that era. Laver was ranked by the press as the World No. 1 player in 1961 and 1962 (as an amateur) and in 1968 and 1969 (as a professional).

According to the article, Bill Tilden was the best player for seven years and Pancho Gonzales for eight years. While Laver was indisputably the best player from 1965 through 1969, the article asserts that Laver had a valid claim for the top spot also for 1964 and 1970.

Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and himself a candidate for the title of best player of all time, ranked Laver only in the "second echelon" of great players, just behind the six best. [Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.] He writes that although Laver was "absolutely unbeatable for a year or two late in the 1960s," a "careful comparison" could be made between Laver and the somewhat older Gonzales and that Kramer is "positive that Gonzales could have beaten Laver regularly." Kramer's main argument for down grading Laver is that, " [Ken Rosewall| [Ken] Rosewall] beat Laver in those two World Championship of Tennis finals and that was a title Laver really wanted." Kramer sees as evidence of Gonzales's superiority over Laver the fact that Gonzales defeated Laver in a U.S.$10,000 winner-take-all, five-set match before 15,000 spectators in New York City's Madison Square Garden in January 1970, when Gonzales was 41 years old and Laver was still considered the World No. 1 player. On the other hand, Gonzales was still a top ten player when this match occurred and Laver subsequently won this event, beating Gonzales in a straight sets semifinal. Overall, his head-to-head-record with Gonzales was either 35-19 or 36-21 in favor of Laver, depending on the source. Laver was 12-5 against Gonzales during the open era. [McCauley, Joe (2003). "The History of Professional Tennis"; cite book |author=Collins, Bud; Laver, Rodney George |title=The Education of a Tennis Player |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |year=1973 |pages= |isbn=067121533-7 |oclc= |doi=]

Many experts disagree with Kramer's assessment of Laver. For example, Dan Maskell, John Barrett, Joe McCauley, [See McCauley, Joe (2003). "The History of Professional Tennis," page 156.] Ted Schroeder, and Tony Trabert rank Laver as the best of all time. Schroeder has been quoted by Alan Trengove as saying, "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." Trabert said in January 2008, "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." [ [http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=528242#top The Tennis Week Interview: Tony Trabert] ] Similarly, the tennis author Peter Bodo wrote in May 2008, "Give him credit? Shoot, the only real issue is whether the GOAT [Greatest of All Time] argument is a debate at all, given that posting those two Slams puts Laver in a league of his own." [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3382011&name=bodo_peter Laver in a class of his own] ] Other experts cite the fact that during his amateur, touring professional, and open era careers, Laver won a record 184 singles titles. He also holds the record for most titles won in a single year during the amateur era (22 in 1962), [McCauley, Joe (2003). "The History of Professional Tennis," p. 121] during the touring pro era (18 in 1967), [McCauley, Joe (2003). "The History of Professional Tennis," p. 137] and during the open era (18 in 1969). [cite book |author=Collins, Bud; Laver, Rodney George |title=The Education of a Tennis Player |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |year=1973 |pages=308-10 |isbn=067121533-7 |oclc= |doi=] After turning professional in 1963, Laver won the U.S. Pro Championships five times and the Wembley Pro Championship four times between 1964 and 1967 (plus two more times in 1969 and 1970 when the event was known as the "British Covered Court Championships"). In 1967, Laver won a "Professional Grand Slam" by winning all four of the major professional tournaments: the U.S. Pro Championships, the Wembley Pro Championships, the French Pro Championship, and the Wimbledon Pro.

Laver came out on top in various experts polls for the best of all time. In 1986, the US magazine "Inside Tennis" polled 37 experts, which resulted in a computerized tournament. Laver ranked first on this list ahead of John McEnroe, Don Budge, Kramer, Björn Borg, Gonzales, Tilden, Jimmy Connors, Fred Perry, and Lew Hoad. In a poll by the Associated Press in 2000, Laver was voted "The Male Tennis Player of the Century," ahead of Pete Sampras, Tilden, Borg, Budge, McEnroe and Hoad (tied), Rosewall and Roy Emerson (tied), and Kramer. In an article in "Tennis Week" in 2007, the tennis historian Raymond Lee statistically analyzed the all-time best players. Laver topped his list ahead of Tilden and Borg (tied), Roger Federer, Gonzales, Rosewall, Budge, Ivan Lendl, Connors, Sampras, McEnroe, and Kramer.

In 1989, Bud Collins wrote, "I remain unconvinced that there ever was a better player than Rod Laver". [cite book |author=Collins, Bud |title=My Life With the Pros |publisher=E.P. Dutton |location=New York |year=1989 |pages= |isbn=0-525-24659-2 |oclc= |doi=] Thirteen years later, however, as editor of the massive "Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia", Collins was more guarded. He wrote on page 693 that Laver would "be known as possibly the greatest player ever." On page 673, Collins said that Gonzales was "probably as good as anyone who ever played the game, if not better." And on page 749, Collins called Tilden "perhaps the greatest player of them all." [cite book |author=Collins, Bud |title=Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia |publisher=Sport Media Publishing |location=Kingston, NY |year=2003 |pages=673, 693, 749 |isbn=0973144343 |oclc= |doi=] In an August 2006 article for MSNBC, Collins ranked Laver as one of the five top men's tennis stars of all time, along with Tilden, Gonzales, Borg, and Sampras. He pointed to Tilden's "phenomenal .938 winning percentage," said "If I had to choose someone to play for my life it would be Pancho Gonzalez," praised Borg's uncanny transition from the French Open to Wimbledon, cited Sampras's "assault on the citadels of the past," and called Laver "in my eyes, the greatest player ever". [The Collins article: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14489546/]

In 1973, the ATP's computer rankings were established. Laver attained his highest ranking on that computer of World No. 3 in 1974. Laver's highest year-end ranking by the ATP was World No. 4 in 1974. Laver semi-retired from the main professional tennis tour in 1975 while still being ranked in the top 10.

In terms of yearly prize money won, Laver was the leader from 1964 until 1971. [cite book |author=Collins, Bud |title=Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia |publisher=Sport Media Publishing |location=Kingston, NY |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=0973144343 |oclc= |doi=]

The number of tournament singles titles that Laver won during his career varies depending on the source. The ATP credits Laver with 39 open era titles in ATP sanctioned events. Other sources, like "Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia" (edited by Bud Collins), give him 47 or 54 titles during the open era alone. Laver's overall tally, however, undoubtedly is much higher. Collins credits him with 184 titles in amateur, professional, and open competition, without listing them in detail.

Laver's eleven Grand Slam singles titles currently place him tied with Borg for third place on the all-time list. Only Sampras, Emerson, and Roger Federer have won more Grand Slam singles titles. Laver also won eight Grand Slam doubles titles. Laver is the only player to have twice won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments during the same calendar year.

Laver was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981. Laver was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1970. He also is an Australian Living Treasure.

After retiring from tennis

In July 1998, Laver suffered a stroke while being interviewed by ESPN-TV in the United States for a series on greatest athletes of the 20th Century, but he has apparently made a good recovery with excellent medical care. In 2000, the center court at Melbourne Park, which today hosts the Australian Open, was named the Rod Laver Arena in his honor. In 2003, Laver, along with his fellow Australian tennis superstar Margaret Court, was honored with his portrait on a postage stamp by the "Australia Post Australian Legends Award".

Laver apparently resides in Carlsbad, California now.cite news |first=Jay |last=Paris |title=Federer is Laver's Wimbledon favorite |url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/18/sports/professional/61705210207.txt |publisher=North County Times |date=2005-06-17 |accessdate=2007-09-25]

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (11)

Professional career: 1963 through 1967 (before the open era) (66)

Doubles titles during the open era as listed on the website of the Association of Tennis Professionals (27)

Doubles runner-ups during the open era (14)

Notes

ources

*
* Bellamy, Rex (1990). "Love Thirty. Three Decades of Champions."
*
*
* Heldman, Julius. "The Style of Rod Laver." In cite book |author=Phillips, Caryl |title=The Right Set: A Tennis Anthology |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |year=1999 |pages= |isbn=0-375-70646-1 |oclc= |doi=
*
* McCauley, Joe (2003). "The History of Professional Tennis."
* Newcombe, John; Writer, Larry (2002). "Newk - Life On and Off the Court."
* Sutter, Michel (1992). "Vainqueurs-Winners 1946-1991" (forewords by Arthur Ashe and Mark Miles).
* Trengove, Alan (2003). "Advantage Australia. Rod Laver and Margaret Court: Legends of the Grand Slam.

External links

*ATP|id=L058
*ITF male profile|number=10002749
*DavisCupplayerlink|id=10002749
* [http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=191 International Tennis Hall of Fame profile]
* [http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/history/rod_laver.html Official Wimbledon website profile]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/wimbledon_history/3751233.stm BBC profile]