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Laver–Rosewall rivalry

Famous tennis rivalry From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Laver–Rosewall rivalry
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The Laver–Rosewall rivalry was a tennis rivalry in the 1960s and 1970s between Australian players Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, widely regarded as two of the greatest tennis players of all time.[1] 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.[2]

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Rod Laver
* World No1
* 11 Grand Slam singles titles
* 8 Pro Major singles titles
* 200 singles titles
Thumb
Ken Rosewall
* World No1
* 8 Grand Slam singles titles
* 15 Pro Major singles titles
* 133 singles titles
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Analysis

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Including tournaments and single-night events, they played at least 165 matches with Laver leading 90–75.

Their meetings took place in the span 1963–77. They met in 13 individual years in that span, and in 9 of those 13 Laver had an edge, which can be explained considering that Laver faced an already declining Rosewall: in their first meeting ever, Rosewall was already 28 years of age.[a]

After their 1969 Roland Garros final, Laver said, "Ken has consistently been my toughest opponent, on any surface, and we've played each other, I don't know, well over 200 times."[3]

Head-to-head tallies

Ken [Rosewall] pushed me around for about 20 years.

Rod Laver, in 2012

The following is a breakdown of their documented head-to-head results:[4]

More information Player, Total ...

Results per court surface

  • Grass courts: Laver 18–13
  • Hard courts: Laver 21–13 (18–12 on outdoor hard courts and 3–1 on indoor hard courts)
  • Clay courts: Laver 13–11
  • Indoor courts (carpet, wood, canvas – not including indoor hard courts and clay courts): Rosewall 39–34
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List of all matches

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Legend:
Rod Laver wins
Ken Rosewall wins
More information No., Winner ...

(*) most probably canvas. During the World Tour in 63, they used their portable canvas surface.

(**) most probably hard, but not yet confirmed.

(***) Results of TV series matches were usually not reported in the press and it is not known whether videotapes of these matches still exist. Results are surmised from TV listings and the "winner keeps playing" format. For example, if Player 1 is listed facing Player 2 the first week and Player 1 is listed facing Player 3 the next week, it is assumed Player 1 had beaten Player 2. However, results are unconfirmed.

Other matches:

  • 1964, 30 January – Brisbane tour match. Rain stopped match when Laver was ahead 4–6, 8–6, 1–0.
  • 1965, 24 January – Manly Tour. Rain stopped match when Rosewall was ahead 6–2, 3–2.
  • 1966, October–November – Tour in Nairobi, Entebbe, Accra and Lagos.
  • 1967, August – Italian Tour, four cities with the pro troupe.
  • 1967, October – Spain Tour with Laver, Rosewall, Gimeno and Stolle.
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See also

Notes

  1. Jack Kramer claimed in "Tennis de France N°174 Octobre 1967" that Rosewall's peak career was in 1961–1962.
  2. Fourth match on the NZ Tour. Two matches were played between Auckland and Palmerston North, two between Palmerston North and Hamilton.
  3. Rosewall won 6–3, 7–5 or 6–3, 7–6. They may have played a final game to finish the set off.
  4. Not to be confused with: South African Pro – Johannesburg.
  5. Not to be confused with: U.S. Pro.
  6. Not to be confused with: French Pro.
  7. Tournament played on AstroTurf carpet surface on Center Court and on cement on the secondary court.
  8. Last four days of the tournament held indoors at Los Angeles Sports Arena.
  9. Tournament started on Supreme Court carpet surface. Because of extreme heat, they changed to plexipave hardcourt.
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References

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