Word: laver
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...means successive victories in the Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. championships in a single season, and it was first accomplished by Don Budge in 1938. No one could do it again until 1962, when a nimble, lean (5 ft. 9 in., 155 Ibs.) left-hander from Australia named Rod Laver swept the four tournaments...
Even then, it was considered a bit of a fluke. Said Promoter Jack Kramer: "When Laver turns pro, he's going to get beaten just like every other amateur champion who turned pro." Sure enough, Laver lost 19 of his first 21 pro matches. Even when he began to win consistently, he played in the shadow of his countryman, Ken Rosewall...
...Laver no longer stands in anyone's shadow. In fact, at 31, "the Rocket" (as Laver is persistently called) dominates his game more completely than any other athlete in the world. Laver proved that last week in the quagmire of the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, N.Y. Playing his distinctively cool, calculating game, he overwhelmed another Australian, Tony Roche, 7-9, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, to win the U.S. Open championship and thereby stash an unprecedented second grand slam into his tucker bag. His victory earned him $16,000 in prize money and brought...
...Laver was hardly a shoo-in. Driving rains interrupted play and turned the venerable club's tournament into a slippery game of chance. As Roche advanced toward the finals, Laver's luck looked even less assured. In matches earlier this year, Roche defeated Laver five out of seven times. Roche is seven years younger than Laver and, at 5 ft. 10 in., 175 Ibs., considerably stronger...
...Laver did just that in the championship match. Throughout the first set -which was delayed for 1 hr. 35 min. while a helicopter tried to dry out the soggy grass-Laver and Roche gingerly tested each other. They broke each other's serves an astonishing seven times. After the ninth game Rod calmly paused to switch to spiked shoes, fully aware that adjustment to the shift would probably cost him the set. It did. But in the second set Laver settled into a flawless groove. He broke Roche's spirit by consistently parrying his powerful serve, glided swiftly...