Rod Laver wins 1969 US Open, completes second Grand Slam
September 12, 2021: Flushing Meadows will be awarded the US Open men’s title tonight, fourth Slam of the season. It is not an “any” final. Novak Djokovic is only one victory to complete that seasonal Grand Slam that has been missing for 52 years. Let’s warm up the wait with a historical flashback. Let’s go back to that September 9, 1969, exactly at the West Side Tennis Club in the Forest Hills neighborhood – NYC, where the men’s final of the 88th edition of the US Open was staged. Rod Laver defeated Tony Roche in four sets, completing the so-called Grand Slam for the second time. An epochal undertaking, never more successful for a male tennis player (Steffi Graf the last one in 1988). A legendary success, which deserves to be told, and understood. But first, why is the completion of the Australian Open – Roland Garros – Wimbledon and US Open in a calendar year called the Grand Slam?
Perhaps not everyone knows the history of the term “Grand Slam”, now in use not only in tennis but also in golf, baseball and other disciplines. It derives from the card game of Bridge: it is the maximum blow that can be made, thirteen tricks made against the opponent. The Grand Slam in tennis was first talked about in 1933, thanks to New York Times reporter John Kieran. Jack Crawford won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon that year. Before the US Open Kieran (bridge player) wrote: “If Crawford wins the tournament, it would be like scoring a Grand Slam in bridge.” The Australian tennis player won two sets of the final against Fred Perry, but was reassembled until defeat. Don Budge in 1938 was the first tennis player to complete a Grand Slam, then Rod Laver (1962 and 1969). Among women, Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Smith Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988) succeeded. Let’s go back to that September 9, 1969, 52 years ago, in New York.
“The helicopter and the Legend”
Rod Laver’s journey to the 1969 US Open was no easy walk at all. On the one hand he was very close to repeating a great sporting feat, on the other his head was focused on the family, since his wife was about to give birth to Rick in those days and there was no way to climb up in a few hours on a plane and run away. After three easy rounds, Rod in the round of 16 recovered a two-set-to-one disadvantage against Ralston, escaping a great danger, then in the quarterfinals he defeated Emerson in four hard-fought sets. Even “Rocket”, the greatest and strongest tennis player of the time, felt the pressure. In the semifinals he found his best tennis and beat Ashe in three sets, including a beautiful third set that ended 14-12. In the final he found Tony Roche, who came out victorious from an epic battle against compatriot Newcombe, which ended 8-6 in the fifth, the best game of the tournament. There was enormous expectation for the final, also marred by the New York weather, always dreary and unpredictable in September, to lengthen the tournament. That 9 September was Tuesday and there was no lack of rain. There was not even a shadow of movable roofs at that time, so much so that a helicopter (!) Swooped over the field for a few minutes and thus “wiped the grass” after a delay of 90 minutes. We are in America, the striking ideas are always around the corner … Finally the final started. The tension was very high, even in Laver’s granite arm, which started badly by firing a double foul. A first ball too central followed, followed at the net and punished by a great response from Roche, very ready to shoot from the blocks and eager to stop the race of his rival friend. A first outside slice gave Laver the first fifteen of his match. The game progressed quickly, serve and volley were the religion on grass. Rod had snatched a game from Tony, but when he served for the first set at 5-3 he suffered the counter break. After 27 minutes of a “slippery” match, Laver decided to change his shoes by wearing the “Spikes”, with a slight dentition to help grip the still very wet turf. It wasn’t enough to win the first set, lost 7-9 after 42 minutes. The atmosphere was electric, it was thought that the champion could collapse at any moment under the consistent tennis of the “rock” Roche. Laver canceled a delicate break point at the opening of the second set with a great touch. That moment was a liberation, the tension began to ease and he took the chair, starting to produce that offensive and almost perfect tennis that had made him the strongest. The left-handed arm of “Rocket” began to roll precise, powerful blows, “without any technical gap” as the chroniclers of the time told. He took possession of the match, serving very well and responding like a champion. With a Wagnerian crescendo he ruled Roche 6-1 6-2 6-2. He won his 11th and last major, but above all he completed the second Grand Slam after that of 1962 “as an amateur”. In fact, in 1963 he had moved on to the Pro tour, no Slam tournaments until 1968.
The Open Era began in 1968, but it is correct to consider Laver’s feat of ’69 as the “real” closure of the previous era. From the 70s new players, with a different, more muscular and modern tennis, will change the cards on the table by revolutionizing the sport of the racket. Since September 9, no male tennis player has managed to complete the Grand Slam, only Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988) among women. In these 52 years we have gone through various historical phases, many technical revolutions – including the advent of new materials – and epochal champions. We have accompanied the exploits of legends such as Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Lendl, Agassi, Sampras, and today those of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic; among women Navratilova, Evert, Seles, Serena Williams. Some of them have dominated a few years in the full sense of the term, they have managed to win all the Majors in their careers, but not to complete a Grand Slam. Only Novak Djokovic succeeded at the turn of 2015 and 2016, winning all 4 Grand Slams in a row. Now Novak is trying again, this time in the solar year 2021. Who was there before Novak “Djoker” Djokovic?
No Grand Slam since 1970, except Steffi Graf (1988). But someone came close. Djokovic won the four Majors in a row, between 2015 and 2016, with victories at Wimbledon and US Open 2015, Australian Open and Roland Garros 2016. Same situation among girls for Martina Navratilova (between 1983-84), Steffi Graf (1993-94) and twice Serena Williams (2002-03, 2014-15). Some commentators count these pokies among the Grand Slams, but for the classic interpretation of the feat, the four titles must be won in the calendar year. Roger and Rafa? Nadal never came close, having only triumphed in Melbourne in 2009, but sensationally exiting the scene vs. Soderling in Paris in the second round. Federer, on the other hand, came very close to it in the years 2004 and especially 2006 and 2007, when he won three Grand Slams losing (from Rafa) the Roland Garros final, therefore only one match from the Grand Slam. Going further back, Sampras never won at Roland Garros; Lendl never won at Wimbledon; Wilander won three Grand Slams in 1988, he missed the Championships. Connors has never triumphed over Parisian red like McEnroe. The case of Borg is unique. In its golden years, the Australian Open was held in December, the last Grand Slam on the calendar (to be exact from 1977 to 1985). Bjorn repeatedly won Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but failing to triumph in New York ended up missing the trip down under. Everything suggests that if successful in America, Borg would have had an easy time in Melbourne, where the level was undoubtedly lower than the other Majors in those years. Among women, I will go very close to Martina Navratilova in 1984: she won Paris, Wimbledon and the US Open, but lost dramatically in Melbourne in the semifinals from Helena Sukova 7-5 to the third. Farewell Grand Slam dream.
Winning a Grand Slam implies playing an almost perfect season, “at least” from January to September. It is not easy to manage to keep the physical, technical and mental condition so high in a sport that has become increasingly difficult and competitive since the 1970s. The difference in the playing conditions had a decisive impact in making the enterprise more complicated, even more from the late 70s to the early 2000s, when the surfaces were really different from each other.. Up to 1974, in fact, three out of four Majors were played on grass, whoever possessed an ideal tennis on the lawns had a great advantage. From 1975, for three years, in New York they played on the “green” clay, faster and more slippery than the European red one; there Borg lost the big chance… So since 1978, again in NY, here is the first hard court Grand Slam. Three different surfaces for the four Majors. The situation became even more complicated when the Australian Open revolutionized their tournament. After having brought it back in January 1987 (Edberg won on Kooyong grass), in 1988 here is the new plant in Flinders Park, with a very different cement from the American one. It was decided – reluctantly – to dismiss the legendary “Aussie” technical school on grass to relaunch a movement in crisis and a “clay pot” tournament compared to the other Grand Slams. Over the years the operation has worked, today the Australian Open is a tournament equal – if not superior – to the other Majors. Four Grand Slams, four different conditions. The Grand Slam became even more difficult.
Since the 2000s, the Grand Slam has returned to being “possible” also thanks to the playing conditions, extraordinarily uniform compared to the previous era. Since 2002 a “slow” grass has been imposed in Wimbledon, thanks to a different composition of the lawn, a higher cut and a change in the soil. Today at the Championships there are exchanges, so those who are strong on synthetic fields do not struggle at all to be competitive on the lawns. The red clay has been speeded up to cancel impossible marathons and make the exchanges more exciting. In the end, for most of the season, the game is played with fairly homogeneous conditions, and this has meant that since the mid-2000s a new technical school and generation of players able to play to their fullest practically all year round has emerged. This is a decisive factor in making the Grand Slam “possible” again. It is therefore no coincidence that Novak Djokovic, exceptional tennis player and more complete and stronger player from an athletic and mental point of view, has already achieved an “almost” Grand Slam and today is only one victory to repeat the feat of Rod Laver of ’69.
Marco Mazzoni
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