Rod Laver

Rod Laver was the king of tennis. Born in Rockhampton on August 9,1938. He was known as the Rockhampton Rocket and considered and the greatest player from Australia, and the world. Rod had all the spins on his ground shots and serves. He always got the most out of every shot using spin, power and angles. He was the most successful player in tennis. The left-hander's career lasted 23 years.

Rod Laver was 61 years of age when he got the arena named after him. He got an arena named after because he was such a master of tennis. Before this man's performances, the courts weren't called anything. The arena is where the Australian Open is held. It is located near Olyimpic park. The arena was built in 1988.

Rod was only a young boy when he left school to pursue a career in tennis. His efforts proved succesful as he won 47 professional grand slam titles, and was the only player to win two grand slams in 1962 and '69. Rod was mainly a singles champion, but won 7 grand slam titles playing mens and mixed doubles. He also has quite a record in tournaments. All the 3 times he played in the Davis Cup team, Australia won.

Rod Laver was number one in the world for 10 years, and was in the world's top 10 for 16 years. He was the first player in histroy to win $1,000,000 prize money. Rod's main acheivements were in the '60's and early '70's. This is when he won most of his grand slam titles, and when he was runner up 21 times. He was also famous in this time because has such a record in the Italian champions, US professional indoors and Australian indoors. He won singles in '62, 71, '73, and '74. He also won doubles in '62.