Rodney George Laver is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was ranked the world number 1 professional player indisputably for five years from 1965 to 1969 and by some sources also in 1964 and 1970. He was also ranked as the number 1 amateur in 1961 and 1962. Laver won 198 singles titles which is the most won by a player in history.
Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including a record 15 Pro Majors and 8 Grand Slam titles for a total 23 titles at pro and amateur majors ranks him second all time to Novak Djokovic on 24. He also won 15 Pro Majors in doubles and 9 Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosewall achieved a Pro Slam in singles in 1963 by winning the three Pro Majors in one year and he completed the Career Grand Slam in doubles.
Roy Stanley Emerson is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. All of his singles Grand Slam victories and 14 of his Grand Slam doubles victories were achieved before the open era began in 1968. He is the only male player to have completed a career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles, and the first of four male players to complete a double career Grand Slam in singles. His 28 major titles are the all-time record for a male player. He was ranked world No. 1 amateur in 1961 by Ned Potter, 1964 by Potter, Lance Tingay and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 14 experts and 1965 by Tingay, Joseph McCauley, Sport za Rubezhom and an Ulrich Kaiser panel of 16 experts.
The U.S. Pro Tennis Championships was the oldest professional tennis tournament played until its final year of 1999 and is considered to have been a professional major from 1927–1967 until the advent of Open Era. In 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1960, the Cleveland World Pro had a women's draw, with Pauline Betz winning the first three of these, and defeating the reigning U.S. women's champion Doris Hart in the 1956 final. Althea Gibson defeated Pauline Betz in the 1960 women's final.
The 1968 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from Monday 27 May until Sunday 9 June 1968. It was the 72nd edition of the French Open, the 38th to be open to foreign competitors, and the second major of the year.
Rod Laver defeated Roy Emerson 6–2, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4 in the final to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1962 U.S. National Championships, and in turn complete a Grand Slam by winning all four majors in the same year. Laver would not appear in a Grand Slam tournament again until the start of the Open Era in 1968, due to turning professional in 1963.
The 1948 U.S. National Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts in the United States. The men's and women's singles events as well as the mixed doubles were held at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, while the men's and women's doubles events were played at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The tournament ran from September 10 until September 19. It was the 68th staging of the U.S. National Championships, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of the year. Pancho Gonzales and Margaret Osborne duPont won the singles titles.
The 1960 U.S. National Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on outdoor grass courts at two locations in the United States. The men's and women's singles as well as the mixed doubles were played from September 2 through September 17 at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, while the men's and women's doubles were held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts from August 21 through August 28, 1960. It was the 80th staging of the U.S. National Championships, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of 1960. Neale Fraser and Darlene Hard won the singles titles.
The 1961 U.S. National Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, United States. The tournament ran from September 1 until September 10, 1961. It was the 81st staging of the U.S. National Championships, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of 1961.
The 1962 U.S. National Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, United States. The tournament ran from 29 August until 10 September. It was the 82nd staging of the U.S. National Championships, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of 1962. The men's singles event was won by Australian Rod Laver whose victory completed his first Grand Slam.
The 1967 U.S. National Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, United States. The tournament ran from August 30 through September 10, 1967. It was the 87th staging of the U.S. National Championships, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of 1967. This was the last time the U.S. National Championship was played as an amateur event; the 1968 tournament, also played at West Side Tennis Club's Forest Hills Stadium, became the first U.S.Open, following the French and Wimbledon opens earlier that year.
This is a list of the main career statistics of Australian former tennis player Rod Laver whose playing career ran from 1956 until 1977. He played as an amateur from 1956 until the end of 1962 when he joined Jack Kramer's professional circuit. As a professional he was banned from playing the Grand Slam tournaments as well as other tournaments organized by the national associations of the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF). In 1968, with the advent of the Open Era, the distinction between amateurs and professionals disappeared and Laver was again able to compete in most Grand Slam events until the end of his career in 1977. During his career he won eleven Grand Slam tournaments, eight Pro Slam tournaments and five Davis Cup titles.
The British Hard Court Championships was a Grand Prix tennis and WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1968 to 1983 and 1995 to 1999. The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 1924 in Torquay, moving to the West Hants Tennis Club in Bournemouth, England in 1927 and was held there until 1983. The 1977 and 1979 editions were cancelled due to lack of sponsorship. In 1995 the event was revived at Bournemouth as a women's WTA tournament but was only played there that year. The women's final edition in 1996 was held in Cardiff, Wales. The tournament was played on outdoor clay courts. Bournemouth was one of the world's major tournaments, second only to Wimbledon in England and on the same level as Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg. In the pre-war era, it was regarded as the most important event outside the four Grand Slams. Fred Perry is the record holder with five consecutive titles, from 1932 through 1936.
The 1968 British Hard Court Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at The West Hants Club in Bournemouth in England. It was the first tournament in the Open Era of tennis. The tournament was held from 22 April to 27 April 1968. Ken Rosewall and Virginia Wade won the first open singles titles while the men's team of Roy Emerson and Rod Laver and the women's team of Christine Truman Janes and Nell Truman won the first open doubles titles.
The 1970 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. It was classified as a Class 1 category tournament and was part of the 1970 Grand Prix circuit. It was the 43rd edition of the tournament and was held from August 3 through August 9, 1970. Fourth-seeded Tony Roche won the singles title and the accompanying $12,000 first prize money.
The 1969 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships was a men's professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in the United States. The existing grass courts at Longwood were replaced for the tournament with a slower and higher bouncing green synthetic hardcourt (Uniturf)). It was the 42nd edition of the tournament, the second edition of the Open Era, and was held from July 9 through July 15, 1969. First-seeded Rod Laver won the singles title, his fourth consecutive title at the event and fifth in total, and earned $8,000 first-prize money.
The 1971 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in the United States and was part of the 1971 World Championship Tennis circuit. It was the 44th edition of the tournament and was held from August 2 through August 8, 1971. Sixth-seeded Ken Rosewall won the singles title, his third U.S. Pro title, and the accompanying $10,000 first-prize money. The final was watched by 5,500 spectators.
The 1972 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in the United States and was part of the 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit. It was the 45th edition of the tournament and was held from July 31 through August 6, 1972. Bob Lutz defeated John Newcombe, Rod Laver and Cliff Drysdale prior to beating Tom Okker in the Finals.
For many years before the Open Era of tennis in 1968, the usual format for the handful of touring tennis professionals was a series of two-man one-night stands across the United States and often in other countries as well. The most notable of these tours were the "World Series" or "World Professional Championships", in which the reigning world champion went head-to-head against a challenger, most often the leading amateur of the previous year who had just turned pro. Promoters would attempt to sign the leading amateur to a contract with a minimum guarantee against a percentage of gate receipts, making a similar type of deal with the reigning professional champion and sometimes giving smaller percentages to undercard players. The winners of the tours were described as being the "world champion".
The 1969 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships – Singles was an event of the 1969 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, United States from July 9 through July 15, 1969. First-seeded Rod Laver was the defending champion and regained his singles title, defeating second-seeded John Newcombe in the final, 7–5, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1.
Rod Laver