Rod Laver

Australian Born 1938 173 cm Left handed
Head to heads vs Ken Rosewall (31)vs Roy Emerson (31)vs Fred Stolle (24)vs Tom Okker (23)vs Arthur Ashe (21)vs Andres Gimeno (21)

Match log

1979

Las VegasHard, April
R32LJohn Alexander7-6 3-6 1-6

1978

Las VegasCarpet, March
R16LBjorn Borg4-6 2-6
Richmond WCTCarpet, January
QFLEddie Dibbs1-6 6-7
R16WMark Cox6-4 5-7 6-4
R32WJan Kodes6-1 6-3
SarasotaCarpet, January
QFLPat Dupre0-6 4-6
R16WCharlie Pasarell6-2 7-6
R32WHoward Schoenfield6-0 3-6 6-4

1977

WCT Challenge CupCarpet, November
RRLIlie Nastase5-6 4-6
RRWVitas Gerulaitis2-6 6-5 6-5
RRLRoscoe Tanner3-6 1-6
WimbledonGrass, June
R64LDick Stockton6-3 7-9 4-6 5-7
R128WSean Sorensen6-0 6-2 6-2
Queen's ClubGrass, June
R64LJorge Andrew3-6 4-6
Las VegasHard, April
R16LColin Dibley4-6 6-3 2-6
R32WMark Cox6-2 6-3
Monterrey WCTCarpet, February
R16LEddie Dibbs6-2 3-6 2-6
Palm SpringsHard, February
R32LBrian Gottfried6-4 2-6 2-6
R64WHaroon Rahim6-3 6-2
Toronto Indoor WCTCarpet, February
QFLJimmy Connors0-6 1-6
R16WWojtek Fibak6-0 6-2
Philadelphia WCTCarpet, January
R64LEddie Dibbs6-4 0-6 1-6

1976

Las VegasCarpet, December
RRLHarold Solomon3-6 4-6
RRWManuel Orantes4-6 7-6 7-5
RRLIlie Nastase3-6 1-6
World Invitational ClassicClay, October
SFLBjorn Borg3-6 5-7
HoustonClay, April
R16LKen Rosewall6-3 4-6 3-6
Palm SpringsHard, March
QFLBjorn Borg2-6 7-6 6-7
R16WMike Estep6-1 6-2
R32WErik Van Dillen6-4 6-3
R64WGrover Raz Reid7-6 6-3
Rotterdam WCTCarpet, February
SFLArthur Ashe7-5 5-7 3-6
QFWJiri Hrebec6-4 6-3
R16WRolf Thung6-1 6-2
Rome WCTClay, February
R16LCliff Drysdale4-6 3-6
WCT Challenge CupHard, February
RRLIlie Nastase6-7 1-6 6-4 3-6
RRWJohn Alexander6-1 1-6 7-6 6-2
RRLKen Rosewall4-6 1-6 3-6
Richmond WCTCarpet, February
R16LGeoff Masters1-6 1-6
Philadelphia WCTCarpet, January
QFLJimmy Connors3-6 4-6
R16WBrian Gottfried7-6(2) 7-6(3)
R32WRoss Case5-7 6-3 6-2

1975

World Invitational ClassicClay, October
FLIlie Nastase7-5 6-7 4-6
SFWArthur Ashe6-4 6-4
US OpenClay, August
R16LBjorn Borg4-6 6-2 2-6
R32WJohn Andrews6-2 6-3
R64WAlvaro Fillol7-6 6-4
R128WJuan Gisbert7-5 6-4
BostonClay, August
QFLGuillermo Vilas3-6 4-6
R16WJan Kodes6-1 6-0
R32WAdriano Panatta7-6 6-2
R64WPatrick Proisy7-5 6-7 6-0

Rod Laver

Harry Hopman named him Rocket, and the left-hander from Rockhampton grew into it: five foot eight, with a forearm out of all proportion to the rest of him, he swept all four majors as an amateur in 1962, the first man to do it since Don Budge in 1938. That December he turned professional, and the price was five prime years, 1963 through 1967, barred from every major while he traded blows with Ken Rosewall on the pro circuit.

When tennis went open in 1968 he lost the first open final at Roland Garros to Rosewall, then won Wimbledon. In 1969 he swept all four again, closing the only open-era calendar Grand Slam at 31 with a four-set win over Tony Roche in New York. Nobody else has won the calendar Slam twice. Eleven majors in all; five fall in the open era these records cover, four of them from that 1969 run. Melbourne's main show court carries his name.

Tales

Tennis families

The family business: Cruz Hewitt debuts where his father won, and he is far from the only one

Twenty-two years. That is how long it has been since Lleyton Hewitt won the title in Washington, and this week his son came through qualifying into the main draw of the same tournament. Cruz Hewitt is 17, ranked outside the top 600, and plays Marcos Giron in the first round. It is his first ATP main draw, and it is a smaller novelty than it sounds. The tour is thick with players whose surname arrived before they did.

Feature