Rod Laver - Australia 
| Birth Date:
| 8/9/1938 |
Age:
| 74 |
| Birth Place:
| Rockhampton, Qld, Australia |
Residence:
| Carlsbad, CA, USA |
| Height:
| 5'8" (173 cm) |
Weight:
| 150 lbs (68 kg) |
| Year Turned Pro:
| 1962 (50 years on tour) |
Plays:
| Left-handed |
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A true giant of the men's game, Australia's Rod Laver dominated the sport as both an amateur and a professional, winning two single-season Grand Slams and 11 Grand Slam singles titles overall.
Born in 1938, the left-handed Laver stood just 5-feet, 7-inches tall as an adult, but it hardly kept him from dominating. He won his home country's Australian Open thrice, the French Open twice, Wimbledon four times and the US Open twice.
He was ranked as the No. 1 amateur in the world in1961-1962 and the No. 1 professional in the world in the first two years of the Open Era - 1968 and 1969. He won 199 career singles titles, 40 of them in the Open Era, which began when he was 30 years old.
After dominating in Australia as a child, he won the U.S. Junior championship in 1956 at age 17. Just four years later he won both the singles and doubles crowns at the Australian Open and lost the singles crown at Wimbledon. From there, he won six straight events as an amateur, taking the Grand Slam in 1962, before turning pro, leaving the traditional majors behind.
His main rivals during this time were Pancho Gonzales and Ken Rosewall. Rosewall beat Laver routinely (11 out of 13 times) in 1963, but Laver still won six tournaments and was ranked No. 2 in the world.
In 1964, he won seven titles and defeated Rosewall 15 out of 19 times. Laver triumphed at two of the biggest tournaments -- the US Pro Championships and the Wembley Pro Championship.
In 1965, he was the de facto No. 1 player in the world, winning 17 titles and defeating Rosewall 13 out of 18 times, and Gonzales 8 out of 10 times.
His domination continued in 1966 with 16 titles and 1967 with 19 including the Wimbledon Pro, in which he defeated Rosewall 6-2, 6-2, 12-10. This was the only professional event played on Wimbledon's Centre Court before the Open Era began.
In 1968, he returned as the Open Era dawned to win Wimbledon and lose in the final at the French Open. As there were only eight open events on the schedule, Laver also played in two professional leagues - the National Tennis League (NTL) and World Championship Tennis (WCT). He was ranked No. 1 in both of them.
In 1969, he had perhaps the single-most dominating season of any tennis player of his time, winning all four Grand Slams as a professional and adding titles at Boston and Philadelphia. He won 18 of 32 tournaments and compiled an 106-16 record overall. His win at the French Open , he defeated Ken Rosewall and at Wimbledon, knocked off John Newcombe. At the Australian Open, it took 90 games to defeat Tony Roche in the semifinals before defeating Andres Gimeno in the final. He capped the year by defeating Roche in a four-set final at the US Open. Winning Wimbledon for the fourth straight time,
Laver set a record of 31 straight match victories at the All England Club that stood until Bjorn Borg broke it in 1980. By winning all four majors and a host of other tournaments, Laver pulled in $124,000, the first man to break the $100,000 mark. The year represented Laver's zenith, as he never won another major.
He won seven tournaments in 1970, and at least four for every year through 1975, remaining one of the top players in the game. In addition, Laver won 28 career doubles titles, and reached the finals of 14 more. He was a lead-pipe cinch for inclusion in the International Tennis Hall of Fame when his name was called in 1981.
He also helped Australia dominated Davis Cup play, as the country won the trophy four straight years from 1959-1962. When professionals were allowed to play in the tournament for the first time in 1973, a 35-year-old Laver returned to help win the title for a fifth time, winning two singles and one doubles match in a 5-0 thrashing of the United States.
Tragedy struck Laver in 1998 when he suffered a massive stroke, but he recovered fully from it and continues to play golf and tennis. In 2000, the centre court at the Australian Open was renamed Rod Laver Arena. In 2003, he and fellow Australian Margaret Court were featured on a stamp together.
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