Re: the '56 Forest Hills final, this was in the Australian paper, The Age, the day after.
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A cold wind swirled around Forest Hills stadium this afternoon and swept away Lew Hoad’s hopes of a tennis grand slam, as Ken Rosewall took the U.S. national singles title in four sets....
The vital difference between the pair was that Rosewall learned to use the wind to his advantage, while Hoad tried to combat it.
Hoad, however, was not disgraced. His tennis in the first set was some of his best ever.
Had he met a less versatile opponent he, no doubt, would have added the championship to his Australian, French and Wimbledon titles and so equalled Budge’s 1938 record.
Those who watched all four major titles said that Hoad played at least as well as he did in winning the other events, but that Rosewall was infinitely better than when he lost to Hoad in the Australian and Wimbledon championship finals.
... Rosewall explained the match this way:
"I realized I couldn’t win by trying to beat the wind, so I decided to make it work for me. I concentrated on getting my first serve in and did not worry about its strength, because I knew the wind would swing it around and make it hard to return. Then I ran in to the net and cut short the returns."
Hoad’s view was: “I couldn’t get going after the first set. The wind was so strong that it blew the ball about as I threw it up to serve. I tried not to toss it so high, but it didn’t help. My serves couldn’t find the court and when my big serve fails I naturally find it tough to play my natural game.”
