You can't win the French Open against Rafael Nadal, says Rod Laver
In a conference call at the Australian Open, Rod Laver explained why achieving the Calendar Grand Slam - winning the four Majors in the same season - is difficult. Laver achieved this historical feat in 1962 and 1969. "I know (Novak) Djokovic got close, he had three legs in but not in the same year but in a row," said Laver. "I think (Rafael) Nadal and Djokovic have got to be in a position to win them all. I know that there are some criteria, when you look at the US -- not the US, but the French, and thinking, you know, they're all going for it. But guess who you got to beat? You got to beat Nadal in France, and he's won nine in a row or ten in a row now. You can win all the others, but you're not going to win the French. That's some of the things that happen in this world now."
Recalling his great achievement, Laver added: "It's a nine-month title, you know. So I came down here in '69. This is the first time that all of them were going to be open. Yeah, pride of being an Australian is how I would put it. I just wanted to be down here in -- I told my wife, I want to enter all four of them. And she says, Well, go ahead. It's your life with tennis. And so I arrived down here, and she called me up and said she was pregnant. The due date was the exact date of the US Open final. You know, it may be a thing that was, everything was on my side to make this happen. I think playing all of the tournaments -- I think everybody likes to compete. I'm thinking how many times some of the great champions that have passed through here, you know, in this time frame, and they haven't been able to win all four."
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2RrW7CT
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