Did Rod Laver Foot-Fault?

[Chopin]

Dear Community,

Today, with the late afternoon sun cascading through the windows in all its glory, I turned on the Tennis Channel to find a very pleasant match between Rodney Laver and Ilie Nastase. I believe the match was from 1976, with Nastase prevailing. It was quite a fun match, and the second-set tiebreaker was particularly riveting, with Nastase making a truly spectacular shot on the run to save a set point. Wow! The announcers were quite goofy, in the old-fashioned way, which only added to my enjoyment of the match.

Yet, I couldn’t help but notice that perhaps Laver foot-faulted on a few occasions. Now, I ask the community: was Laver known to foot-fault and what other classic players were also guilty of this infraction. It seems to me that foot-faulting was much more common in the (g)olden days of tennis due to the peculiar service-motions and serve and volley tactics. So, I ask you, were foot-faults less or more of an issue in years past? Did officials turn a blind-eye to such infractions?

I ask you, humbly, to respond to my inquiries in this thread.

Yours,
Chopin

 

[swordtennis]

Not sure why none will respond. Hatred towards u I suppose. It is an interesting question this thread.....

 

[Tina]

Not sure why none will respond. Hatred towards u I suppose. It is an interesting question this thread.....

I don't think they hate Chopin at all. The question might be a difficult for them to attempt, for instance, like me

 

[Chopin]

I can just picture it:

The Historians in some dark dive, discussing how they must all agree to boycott my next thread.

 

[Tina]

I can just picture it:

The Historians in some dark dive, discussing how they must all agree to boycott my next thread.

Is it a joke, isn't? Hey, stay positives and embrace the challenge. Success is in your hands.

 

[Chopin]

This thread is, of course, quite interesting. The lack of responses is a testimony of its power. The Historians fear openly discussing an issue like this, Tina.

 

[Tina]

This thread is, of course, quite interesting. The lack of responses is a testimony of its power. The Historians fear openly discussing an issue like this, Tina.

Posting a video might increase response rates to your question, I suppose. Are you able to provide the link or upload the video? Hope it helps!

 

[RyanRF]

The way that classic players used to step forward instead of jump with their serve makes it seem likely that they would foot-fault more often.

Unfortunately, tennis videos from before the Connors era are hard to find.