Word: lavers
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...McKinley was not yet ready for Australia's canny, flame-haired Rod ("The Rocket") Laver, 22, seeded second. Laver was in danger of becoming Wimbledon's perennial bridesmaid: two years ago he lost the final to Peru's flashy Alex Olmedo, now a pro; last year Fraser beat him. This time Laver made it, and in only 55 minutes. With the score tied 3-3 in the first set, Laver broke through McKinley's service, won nine out of the next ten games for a commanding 6-3, 6-1 lead. He let up briefly...
Aside from their records, U.S. sports fans know little about the Aussie champions, but Fraser and Laver are heroes Down Under. Son of a Victoria judge, Neale Fraser began to play at eleven ("Mum gave us rackets to keep us off the streets"), was finally able to persuade his skeptical parents that he should concentrate on tennis instead of following the family tradition of becoming a lawyer or a doctor...
Short (5 ft. 8 in.), wiry Rod Laver was born into a ranching family in Queensland that was so daft over tennis that it moved into the town of Rockhampton to find some stiff competition for the kids. Playing in every tournament in sight, the family (father, mother and three sons) became known as the Laver All-Stars, and young Rod picked up the nickname of "The Rockhampton Rocket." A blushingly shy redhead, Laver has been thrown off stride by the nagging irritations of a match, is now carefully mother-henned during play by Hopman. In action, Laver...
Desperate Racket. Against the Italians last week, Fraser and Laver were devastating. In the opening singles match, Fraser blasted the bravely grinning Sirola off the court. 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Next, Laver deftly whizzed shots past the desperate racket of Pietrangeli to win as he pleased, 8-6, 6-4, 6-3. The following day, Fraser and slick Roy Emerson, 24, won the third and deciding match by briskly disposing of the Italians in the doubles. 10-8, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. By the third day, the Aussies had routed the Italians four matches...
Long before they routed the Italians, Fraser and Laver had received fat offers from Pro Promoter Jack Kramer. To date both players have insisted that they will not turn pro. If they stay true to their word, Neale Fraser and Rod Laver now stand so far above their rivals that they might very well rule world amateur tennis for years to come...