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Rod Laver has climbed Everest tennis sport twice, without asterisks Sport

Rod Laver recognizes the apple / orange element inherent in comparing records of all eras, but the player recognized as the best of his generation and voted the best of the 20th century has done something that no other great tennis player has ever had: win the grand slam, twice. Repeat: all four majors in the same year. Twice.

The first, in 1962, came from a so-called amateur field already weakened by defection to the professional ranks of the likes of Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall and Pancho Gonzales. The second – and most significant – followed Laver’s 21-round exile while on tour with the pros. 1969 was the first full Open tennis season. An impressive result. With chronic elbow pain. Without asterisks. A sporty Everest has risen.

Only the 1930s champion Don Budge had already completed the feat; no man has done it since. Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have subsequently won three majors in a calendar year, while eight men have had great career successes. One of them, Andre Agassi, described Laver’s results as “godlike”. Amen for this.

My most recent interview with the diminutive Queenslander – in January, the day after his arrival for the Australian Open – was conducted in the Melbourne hotel from where you have a view of the Yarra towards the physical monument that has been carrying its first name. Discussing Laver’s legacy, that humility insists that he always does so reluctantly, the 81-year-old eventually mentions it: “My record. Leave it out. Whatever people think. Winning the grand slam was definitely a feather in my cap. ”

The second blow, in particular, gave full fields once the professionals had returned from the cold. “I think ’69 matters more. Much more, ” said John Newcombe to the Guardian, the seven-time slam winner revealing that he had collected all the papers from those four majors, and once sat down with Laver to analyze them. The Brisbane Australian Open, for example, included an epic 90-game semi-game against Tony Roche.

“There’ve probably been four or five times where he’s had a lot of problems, but he got out of everyone,” says Newcombe. “It is not easy to achieve it, and it did, so you have to classify it as a fantastic result. There were many good players at that time who had won big slams and Rod was the best of the best.”

As for what made him so, Newcombe indicates his Australian colleague’s extraordinary ability to invent the big shot at the right time. In fact, the heat was often hot, and one example was a bizarre crosscourt backhandurt winner when Newcombe had a first break in the third series of the 1969 Wimbledon final and, according to his estimates, covered 99% of the court. “I turned around, looked at him and gave him only a nod to say, ‘It was pretty damn great.’ ” Laver four.

Rosewall, who lost the 1969 French Open final in what is recognized as one of Laver’s best clay games, indicates the competitiveness of his great rival and his fearless, daring shooting range, while applauding an extraordinary and sustained ability to win games in which he had seemed beaten. (Author’s note: Newcombe suggests that Rosewall is overly modest here, considering how little he separated the pair in more than 150 contests and naming the 1968 French final and the two revolutionary WCT finals that the enduring madman Sydneysider won.)

Fred Stolle remembers the man known as “Rocket” as an opponent who would never retire; for those who had his broken service it was only a signal to attack even more. Despite being only 172cm, taking advantage of the power of his famous muscular left forearm, a fierce backhand of the topspin was a revolutionary turning point in the days of the so-called “low ball shooters” that included other great Australians. In that grass-dominated era, Laver’s ability to catch the rising ball was ahead of its time.

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Physically fit and fast, Laver’s relentless Big Match temperament was confirmed by the results, particularly that “absolutely phenomenal” record in 1962 and 69, according to Stolle. If his career as a single 11 major (of which at least two each, plus nine more in doubles and mixed and five triumphs in the Davis Cup) are diminished by modern giants, his good friend Fred has little doubt that a player who has lost more than five of his most important and winning years – from 24 to almost 30 years – to grueling levels from which a tougher and more complete player returned would have won many, many more.

In fact, during Laver’s absence, Stolle reached the eight finals of the slam and lost to compatriot Roy Emerson – fifth on the all-time list, required an asterisk – in five of them. “I would not have won the two that I would have won if I had played against the professionals of the time. Rod won 11 and didn’t play 21 and was the best when he turned professional, and he was the best when he returned. So if we give him half of those, that puts him at 21. ” (Note # 2: Rosewall lost more than double and won eight more. Perhaps even more noteworthy, and often even underestimated. )

Yet, as we will never know, Laver – who only played a limited program from 1970 until his retirement in 1978 – has always claimed that it never mattered. Every regret is small: when he won that history match on the wet grass of Forest Hills to reach the summit on September 9, 1969, an unusual celebration saw his father waiting to jump the net before shaking hands with the defeated Arthur Ashe.

Not an act that Laver would repeat, just as his success over half a century ago has yet to be. Maybe it never will.

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