It has occasionally been mentioned that Emerson's record of 12 GS titles was little-known until Sampras began approaching it, and until Pete specifically mentioned it as a record he was gunning for.
I found a couple of quotes that show that there was some level of awareness of this record in the somewhat distant past:
From Rod Laver's 1971 autobiography (written with Bud Collins), "The Education of a Tennis Player":
On pp. 297-298 Laver writes, in regard to his losing both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1970: "Don't misconstrue my thoughts and believe that I've lost my hunger and have an oh-well feeling about Wimbledon and Forest Hills. Not likely. I mean to have those titles again, so I can pass Roy Emerson's record total of twelve Big Four singles championships."
About a decade later, in Curry Kirkpatrick's report on the 1981 French Open in the June 15, 1981 issue of Sports Illustrated, he writes:
"Borg's sixth French title makes it 11 Grand Slam singles championships, one more than Bill Tilden won, and ties him with Rod Laver for second on the alltime list. The leader is Roy Emerson with 12. That's right. Borg has one major championship to go. And Wimbledon is coming up fast."
It's kind of a shame that, because of a variety of circumstances, neither of these great champions could get over the hump and get GS title #12, especially since they seemed to be at the very top of their games when they bagged major title #11.
DBH
I found a couple of quotes that show that there was some level of awareness of this record in the somewhat distant past:
From Rod Laver's 1971 autobiography (written with Bud Collins), "The Education of a Tennis Player":
On pp. 297-298 Laver writes, in regard to his losing both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1970: "Don't misconstrue my thoughts and believe that I've lost my hunger and have an oh-well feeling about Wimbledon and Forest Hills. Not likely. I mean to have those titles again, so I can pass Roy Emerson's record total of twelve Big Four singles championships."
About a decade later, in Curry Kirkpatrick's report on the 1981 French Open in the June 15, 1981 issue of Sports Illustrated, he writes:
"Borg's sixth French title makes it 11 Grand Slam singles championships, one more than Bill Tilden won, and ties him with Rod Laver for second on the alltime list. The leader is Roy Emerson with 12. That's right. Borg has one major championship to go. And Wimbledon is coming up fast."
It's kind of a shame that, because of a variety of circumstances, neither of these great champions could get over the hump and get GS title #12, especially since they seemed to be at the very top of their games when they bagged major title #11.
DBH