Rodney George Laver is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years before and three years after the start of the Open Era in 1968. He was also ranked the world number 1 amateur in 1961 by Lance Tingay and 1962 by Tingay and Ned Potter. Laver's 200 singles titles are the most in tennis history. This included his all-time men's record of 10 or more titles per year for seven consecutive years (1964–1970). He excelled on all of the court surfaces of his time: grass, clay, hard, carpet, wood.
John David Newcombe AO OBE is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a former record 17 men's doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles. He also contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when the Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the majors. Tennis magazine rated him the 10th best male player of the period 1965–2005.
Lewis Alan Hoad was an Australian tennis player whose career ran from 1950 to 1973. Hoad won four Major singles tournaments as an amateur. He was a member of the Australian team that won the Davis Cup four times between 1952 and 1956. Hoad turned professional in July 1957. He won the Kooyong Tournament of Champions in 1958 and the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions in 1959. He won the Ampol Open Trophy world series of tournaments in 1959, which included the Kooyong tournament that concluded in early January 1960. Hoad's men's singles tournament victories spanned from 1951 to 1971.
Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player. He won a record 23 Majors in singles, including eight Grand Slam singles titles and, before the Open Era, a record 15 Pro Slam titles. Rosewall also won a record 24 major men's doubles titles, with nine Grand Slam titles and 15 Pro Slam men's doubles titles. Rosewall had a renowned backhand and enjoyed a long career at the highest levels from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. Rosewall was ranked as the world No. 1 tennis player by multiple sources from 1961 to 1964, multiple sources in 1970 and Rino Tommasi in 1971 and 1972. Rosewall was first ranked in the top 20 in 1952 and last ranked in the top 20 in 1977. Rosewall is the only player to have simultaneously held Pro Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (1962–1963). At the 1971 Australian Open, he became the first man during the Open Era to win a Grand Slam tournament without dropping a set. Rosewall won world professional championship tours in 1963, 1964, and the WCT titles in 1971 and 1972. A natural left-hander, Rosewall was taught by his father to play right-handed. He developed a powerful, effective backhand but never had anything more than an accurate but relatively soft serve. He was 1.70 m tall, weighed 67 kg (148 lb) and sarcastically was nicknamed "Muscles" by his fellow-players because of his lack of them. He was, however, fast, agile, and tireless, with a deadly volley. Now a father of two and grandfather of five, Rosewall lives in northern Sydney.
Francis "Frank" Arthur Sedgman is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Over the course of a three-decade career, Sedgman won five Grand Slam singles tournaments as an amateur as well as 22 Grand Slam doubles tournaments. He is one of only five tennis players all-time to win multiple career Grand Slams in two disciplines, alongside Margaret Court, Roy Emerson, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams. In 1951, he and Ken McGregor won the Grand Slam in men's doubles. Sedgman turned professional in 1953, and won the Wembley World Professional Indoor singles title in 1953 and 1958. He also won the Sydney Masters tournament in 1958, and the Melbourne Professional singles title in 1959. He won the Grand Prix de Europe Professional Tour in 1959.
John Albert Kramer was an American tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s. He won three Grand Slam tournaments. He led the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team to victory in the 1946 and 1947 Davis Cup finals. Kramer won the U.S. Pro Championship at Forest Hills in 1948 and the Wembley Pro Championships in 1949. He won world professional championship 2-man tours in 1948, 1949/50, 1950/51, and 1953. He was ranked world No. 1 amateur player for 1946 by Pierre Gillou, Harry Hopman and Ned Potter. He was ranked World No. 1 amateur player for 1947 by John Olliff, Pierre Gillou and Ned Potter. In 1948 he was ranked the U.S. No. 1 professional in the USPLTA contemporary rankings for U.S. pro tennis play.
Marion Anthony Trabert was an American amateur world No. 1 tennis champion and long-time tennis author, TV commentator, instructor, and motivational speaker.
World number 1 ranked male tennis players is a year-by-year listing of the male tennis players who were ranked as world No. 1 by various contemporary and modern sources. The annual source rankings from which the No. 1 players are drawn are cited for each player's name, with a summary of the most important tennis events of each year also included. If world rankings are not available, recent rankings by tennis writers for historical years are accessed, with the dates of the recent rankings identified. In the period 1948–1953, when contemporary professional world rankings were not created, the U.S. professional rankings are cited.
Jack Newton OAM was an Australian professional golfer. He won the Buick-Goodwrench Open on the PGA Tour and won three times on the European Tour, including the British PGA Matchplay Championship in 1974. He won the Australia Open in 1979 and a number of other tournaments in Australia, New Zealand and Africa. Twice, he was a runner-up in major championships, losing the 1975 Open Championship, in a playoff against Tom Watson, and the 1980 Masters Tournament, where he finished four strokes behind the winner, Seve Ballesteros.
The 1971 Australian Open, also known under its sponsored name Dunlop Australian Open, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the White City Stadium in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from 7 to 14 March. The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in Melbourne but was moved to Sydney on account of a $125,000 sponsorship deal with Dunlop. The tournament date was moved from its regular January slot to March to accommodate scheduling requirements made by the commercial promoters World Championship Tennis and National Tennis League. It was the 59th edition of the Australian Open, the 17th and final one held in Sydney, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament was part of the 1971 World Championship Tennis circuit. The singles titles were won by Australians Ken Rosewall and Margaret Court. The tiebreak was introduced for all sets except the deciding set.
Robert Alan Shearer was an Australian professional golfer and golf course architect.
The Wimbledon World Lawn Tennis Professional Championships also known as the Wimbledon Pro, was a men's tennis tournament held in August 1967. The tournament was sponsored and broadcast by the BBC to mark the invention of colour television. It was the first tournament staged at Wimbledon that was open to male professional tennis players since the British Professional Championships in 1930, and had a prize fund of US$45,000. The singles competition was an eight-man knockout event won by Rod Laver, who received £3,000, whilst the doubles was a four team knockout event won by Andrés Gimeno and Pancho Gonzales.
The Laver–Rosewall rivalry was a tennis rivalry in the 1960s and 1970s between Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, widely regarded as two of the greatest tennis players of all time. In 1956 both players toured in the amateur circuit but never faced each other. Rosewall turned professional in January 1957 and the two did not meet until January 1963 when Laver turned pro. They played many times until 1977 when both semi-retired from the main tour.
The 1974 Japan Open Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on hard courts and took place in Tokyo, Japan. The men's events were part of the 1974 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix while the women's tournament was a non-tour event. The tournament was held from 7 October through 13 October 1974. First-seeded John Newcombe won the men's singles title and the accompanying $15,000 first prize money and Maria Bueno won the women's singles event.
Lionel Brodie was an Australian amateur tennis player who competed mainly in the 1930s and 1940s.
Clive Wilderspin, was an Australian former tennis player who was active from the late 1940s until the mid-1950s.
Michael Wayman is a British former professional tennis player.
Greg Braun is an Australian former professional tennis player.
Jean-Paul Meyer is a French former professional tennis player.
Bill Gilmour, OAM is an Australian former tennis player of the 1950s.
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