Rod Laver relives the 1969 Grand Slam
One of tennis’ All Time Greats - Rod Laver recently said that he wouldn't have achieved what he has in tennis had he not left the amateur ranks in 1962.
Laver vividly remembered how 13 consecutive losses to the sports’ big boys transformed him into a tennis legend. 50 years hence, Laver remains the only man in Open Era to win all four majors in the same calendar year. “It’s amazing. It was a thrill just to play in all four tournaments,” Laver said.
Speaking a bit on the money angle, he added, “There was no money in it, so I realised I had to turn professional. That was when I decided to go with the big boys. That was probably the best thing that ever happened to me because my game improved so much.”
Speaking about beating fellow Australian Ken Rosewall, who he claims is his toughest opponent, he said, “He was certainly better than me on clay. So I thought I had to do something a little bit different and that’s when I decided I was going to almost hit out all the time and that’s what I did; I hit it as hard as I could every time and that was probably the one thing that probably surprised Ken.”
“I played him a lot of times on clay and to beat Ken in straight sets at the French, it was certainly a thrill and an unusual win at that stage.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2zSJZ7z
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