Word: hoads
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...remember watching Lew Hoad in 1956 in the U.S. Open -he had three legs of the calendar Grand Slam but lost to Ken Rosewall in the final. I was in the stands, and in the back of my head I said to myself, "I want to try that, I want to win the Slam." But it wasn't anything to do with the record books, really. In 1969 [the second year in which Laver won the Slam], what really motivated me was just the thrill of being back at Wimbledon and these other great tournaments...
...another part of his Brisbane home. Though 70 and with two new hips, he moves lightly, returning moments later with a battered racquet. Its head is small by today's standards, but it feels heavy and unwieldy. Cooper's big break in the '57 Open was Fraser upsetting Lew Hoad in a semi-final. "Lew had an off day," says Cooper. "He could have those, but when he was on he was unbeatable. He played with such a lot of wrist. Watching [current world No. 1] Roger Federer reminds me of the way Hoad played. But Lew had such strong...
...Later, he strolls through half a century of great players. Hoad and Rod Laver, of course ... John McEnroe possessed an unrivaled finesse, but Cooper couldn't forgive him his antics. Pete Sampras was probably "the best grass-court player of all time." The clear favorite to win in Melbourne is Federer, whom Cooper can see eventually passing Sampras' record majors tally of 14: "If he maintains his motivation he could end up as the greatest player of all time . . . he hasn't got a weakness." With only two majors, Pat Rafter doesn't qualify as a great, but Cooper marvels...
...surprising insights from talking to tennis umpires," says Ainslie. "Some of them have been in the business for years. They can make valid comparisons with the great players of the past, whereas for today's players, that's more difficult. Borg was born the same year Lew Hoad won his first Wimbledon singles title...
...gate at a high school gym. Today's stars are not only welcome at the big-name championships, they are free to jet from high-paying tournaments to still higher paying exhibitions to the stratospheric payoffs of staged-for-TV challenge matches. Once Jack Kramer, Lew Hoad, Pancho Gonzales and Ken Rosewall dreamed of an organized tour circuit that would provide steady income to pro regulars. The current Big Three-Borg, Connors and Argentina's Guillermo Vilas -can now ply their trade on two multimillion-dollar tours, Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis and the Grand Prix...