Word: underspin
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...player since Don Budge in 1938 to achieve a grand slam of tennis' four top tournaments-the Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. championships. Experts marveled at his vicious ground strokes and slashing serve, his unique ability to cock his wrist at the last instant to put topspin or underspin on the ball...
...little man; but his greatest strength is his vicious ground game and the cunning way he masks his shots. With the unique ability to shift his racket at the last moment, he can hit a baseline drive flat, give it high-bouncing top spin or grass-skidding underspin. Yet for all his skills, he still seemed too small, too temperamental, too easily unsettled by pressure to achieve a slam. He lost twice in the finals at Wimbledon ('59 and '60); Forest Hills, where he lost in '60 and '61, also seemed to have him jinxed-until...
...power of a Hoad or the dexterity of a Rosewall. Instead, he relies on craftiness and a unique ability to reset his wrist in mid-stroke-just before contact with the ball -that permits him to hit the ball flat, give it top spin, or impart a low-bouncing underspin. At Wimbledon last week, everything worked, and the ball acted as if it had corners. "No one could have lived with Laver today," said Australian Team Manager Alf Chave, after Laver's victory in the finals. "Mulligan's only chance would have been...
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