ROD LAVER 6Rod Laver raised the Wimbledon trophy four times in his stellar career The date was September 10 1962 The place was Forest Hills New York The event was the men’s final at the US Championships the precursor to the US Open The two best tennis players in the world were showing off their talents But Rod Laver was making better shots than fellow Australian Roy Emerson Emerson was the defending champion But he had no chance Laver hit the ball so hard that Emerson barely had time to react The left-hander broke Emerson’s serve to open the fourth set and cruised to victory When it was over Laver tossed his racket in the air and smiled It might have been his first smile since the tournament had begun
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8 It was not just any victory With it The Rocket became the first player since 1938 to have won all four Grand Slam events in a single year Nobody knows how many others Laver could have won He turned professional in 1963 That made him ineligible to play in Grand Slam events But he was ready when the Open Era began in 1968 Grand Slam events became open to professional players that year And in 1969 he became the first player to win all four Grand Slam events in the same year twice Laver is regarded as the best player of his era His 200 career tournament titles rank number one in tennis history through 2014 Laver also won 11 Grand Slam singles crowns despite not being allowed to play in them from 1963 to 1967 And he even won five Davis Cups which is the top international team tournament in men’s tennis 2 The number of men with at least two championships in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments Rod Laver and Roy Emerson
9 ROD LAVER Hometown Rockhampton Queensland Australia Height Weight 5 feet 8 150 pounds Birth Date August 9 1938 Tournament Titles 200 Grand Slam Singles Titles 11 Australian Open 3 1960 1962 1969 French Open 2 1962 1969 Wimbledon 4 1961 1962 1968 1969 US Open 2 1962 1969 Davis Cup Titles 5 1959 62 1973 Rod Laver is the only man to win the Grand Slam twice as of 2014
