Word: laver
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...Billy Talbert, director of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships at Forest Hills, N.Y. If he sounded like a carny barker trying to hypo the gate, it was understandable. Partly because of the wearying pro v. amateur power struggle that has long plagued tennis, six of the top professionals -Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, Cliff Drysdale and Andres Gimeno-declined to enter the tournament. Margaret Court Smith, the defending women's champion, could not come because she is pregnant. Wimbledon Champ Evonne Goolagong, the 20-year-old Australian aborigine sensation, said she had decided to take...
...after blasting every amateur in sight off the courts, Rod Laver decided to cash in on what he thought were the riches and glamour of the professional tennis circuit. He soon had second thoughts. In his U.S. pro debut he met Barry MacKay on a canvas court that had been spread across the undulating wood planking covering the Boston Garden ice-hockey rink. "Trying to return Barry's big serve on that bumpy court," recalls Laver, "was like trying to swat jackrabbits with a broom. 'Jesus,' I thought, 'so this is the pro tennis tour...
...Laver lost 19 of his first 21 pro matches, and tennis seemed a terrible grind. In his new book, The Education of a Tennis Player, he recalls nosebleeds and oddly flying shots in the 12,000-ft. heights of La Paz, Bolivia, where "we killed ourselves to win a $600 watch, blood streaming down our faces and the balls zooming everywhere." In Khartoum he and three other pros played for a share of $1,000 in a match that ended with a "bug curfew" -a descending swarm of angry insects. He tells of matches on makeshift courts that were...
...Regret. Last week, as Laver sought to defend his No. 1 seeding in the Wimbledon championships, his chronicle served as a fitting reminder of how far and how fast the pro game has progressed. It was just three seasons ago that the overseers of Wimbledon revitalized tennis by opening their tournament for the first time to pros as well as amateurs. Several other major tournaments have since followed suit, and the added competition has increased both fan interest and purses. Going into Wimbledon last week, Rod the Rocket had already won a record $195,135 for the year. With half...
Though recognized as the most accomplished player in the game today, the bandylegged little redhead with the maddening, wristy spinshots is by no means a shoo-in at Wimbledon. Laver not only faces the usual stern competition from fellow Aussies Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe, but he must also contend with such fast-rising young stars as rangy Stan Smith of the U.S. Now 32, the Rocket has only one regret about the increasing number of young players who are able to make a career out of tennis. Recalling how he felt in 1968 when he was allowed to return...