Rod Laver
 |
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| Full name | Rodney George Laver |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) | Australia |
| Residence | Carlsbad, California, United States |
| Born |
9 August 1938 Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia |
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) |
| Turned pro | 1963 |
| Retired | 1976 |
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | US$ 1,565,413 |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1981 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 536–135 (79.88%) (during Open Era, listed by ATP) |
| Career titles | 200 (52 listed by ATP) |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1961, Lance Tingay) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1960, 1962, 1969) |
| French Open | W (1962, 1969) |
| Wimbledon | W (1961, 1962, 1968, 1969) |
| US Open | W (1962, 1969) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | RR – 2nd (1970) |
| WCT Finals | F (1971, 1972) |
| Professional majors | |
| US Pro | W (1964, 1966, 1967) |
| Wembley Pro | W (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967) |
| French Pro | W (1967) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 235–77 (75.32%) (during Open Era, listed by ATP) |
| Career titles | 28 (during Open Era, listed by ATP) |
| Highest ranking | No. 11 (all as recorded by the ATP) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1959, 1960, 1961, 1969) |
| French Open | W (1961) |
| Wimbledon | W (1970) |
| US Open | F (1960, 1970, 1973) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | F (1959) |
| French Open | W (1961) |
| Wimbledon | W (1959, 1960) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | W (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1973) |
Rodney George "Rod" Laver AC, MBE (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest in tennis history. He was the No. 1 ranked professional from 1964 to 1970, spanning four years before and three years after the start of the Open Era. He also was the No. 1 amateur in 1961–62 according to Lance Tingay.
Laver's 200 singles titles are the most in tennis history, and he holds the all-time male singles records of 22 titles in a single season (1962) and seven consecutive years (1964–70) winning at least 10 titles per season. He excelled on all of the court surfaces of his time: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet.
Despite being banned from playing the Grand Slam tournaments for the five years prior to the Open Era, he still won 11 singles titles. He is the only player to twice achieve the calendar-year Grand Slam, in 1962 (pre-open era) and 1969 (open era), and remains the only man to do so during the Open Era. He also won eight Pro Slam titles, including the calendar year Pro "Grand Slam" in 1967, and contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the Grand Slams.
Rodney George Laver was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, on 9 August 1938. He was the third of four children of Roy Laver, a cattleman and butcher, and his wife Melba Roffey.
In 1966 Laver, aged 27, married Mary Benson in San Rafael, California. Born Mary Shelby Peterson in Illinois, she was a divorcee with three children. After their wedding ceremony, a group of well known tennis players in attendance, including Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Mal Anderson and Barry MacKay, stood outside the church with raised tennis rackets that formed an archway for the newlyweds to walk under. Laver and Mary had a son and the family lived at various locations in California including Rancho Mirage, Corona del Mar, a ranch near Santa Barbara and Carlsbad. Mary Laver died in November 2012 at the age of 84 at their home in Carlsbad.
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Wikipedia