Rod Laver played a endless summer in 1969, a rainy summer however. After being banned for over 5 of his best pro years, he was eager, to show his class again at the big stages, even at age 30. Now all big events were open, which gave him lots of motivation. After his Wimbledon win of 1968, he set out for his purchase of the Grand Slam again. The other guys knew it and they tried mightily to prevent him from doing so. They were a bunch of hard bred fighters from Laver's own generation like Emerson, Stolle, Gimeno and the ageless Rosewall. And there was a new generation x of younger and hungry stars like Newcombe, Roche, Okker, Ashe and Smith.
In the first quarter of the season, Tony Roche challenged Laver severely, and won tight matches with his lefthanded serve curling into Laver's body. But the big one, the Australian semi was won by Laver in 93 games under extremely hot conditions; the first set went to 22-20, it looked 2-0 on the scoreboard. Laver had problems with his elbow and wrist in spring, but anyway won Johannesburg on hard court, MSG on a slow supreme court, and then - quite easily - Paris. Only Dick Crealy, a big fellow from Down Under had him on the ropes at RG. His finest match probably was his semi with flying Dutchman Tom Okker, a fine slugfest of two fast roadrunners. At the Big W, Laver survived a scare against Indian Lall, losing the first two sets, but winning the last 15 games. Smith, Drysdale, Ashe and Newcombe put him to a severe test, each with different tactics. Ashe tried to overpower him, Newk to outfox him, but in both cases, Laver's supreme shotmaking came through. After Wimbledon, Laver went on a high, winning 31 straight matches in the next weeks up to Forest Hills. Ashe remembered that Laver was scary, because he won week after week, Boston on hard just one week after Wim on grass, although people like Okker, Rosewall and Newcombe challenged him there. On the slippery mud at Forest Hills, Laver overcame strong attacks by Ralston, Emmo, Ashe and Roche. On the internet we can see clips of this final match with Roche. It's suprisingly good, despite the catastrophic surface conditions. A helicopter had tried to dry up the court, but it was so soggy, that Laver was allowed to put on spikes.
So finally Rocket's long summer ended. He had some letdowns afterwards, because he was mentally tired, and his wife was long overdue with a child, his son, who certainly was the most important win of his life. But at Wembley, in a 64 men draw with all the big guns present, he excelled again, destroying Roche, his nemesis from the beginning of the year in 3 straight sets. All in all in 1969, he won 18 events out of 31 played, over all continents and all kinds of surfaces. Although having some mental lapses in some sets, he always stepped on the pedal, found another gear and came through at the right moments. When his serve and backhand began to work, he was unstoppable. Like the Apollo mission the same year, The Rocket flew to the moon.
In the first quarter of the season, Tony Roche challenged Laver severely, and won tight matches with his lefthanded serve curling into Laver's body. But the big one, the Australian semi was won by Laver in 93 games under extremely hot conditions; the first set went to 22-20, it looked 2-0 on the scoreboard. Laver had problems with his elbow and wrist in spring, but anyway won Johannesburg on hard court, MSG on a slow supreme court, and then - quite easily - Paris. Only Dick Crealy, a big fellow from Down Under had him on the ropes at RG. His finest match probably was his semi with flying Dutchman Tom Okker, a fine slugfest of two fast roadrunners. At the Big W, Laver survived a scare against Indian Lall, losing the first two sets, but winning the last 15 games. Smith, Drysdale, Ashe and Newcombe put him to a severe test, each with different tactics. Ashe tried to overpower him, Newk to outfox him, but in both cases, Laver's supreme shotmaking came through. After Wimbledon, Laver went on a high, winning 31 straight matches in the next weeks up to Forest Hills. Ashe remembered that Laver was scary, because he won week after week, Boston on hard just one week after Wim on grass, although people like Okker, Rosewall and Newcombe challenged him there. On the slippery mud at Forest Hills, Laver overcame strong attacks by Ralston, Emmo, Ashe and Roche. On the internet we can see clips of this final match with Roche. It's suprisingly good, despite the catastrophic surface conditions. A helicopter had tried to dry up the court, but it was so soggy, that Laver was allowed to put on spikes.
So finally Rocket's long summer ended. He had some letdowns afterwards, because he was mentally tired, and his wife was long overdue with a child, his son, who certainly was the most important win of his life. But at Wembley, in a 64 men draw with all the big guns present, he excelled again, destroying Roche, his nemesis from the beginning of the year in 3 straight sets. All in all in 1969, he won 18 events out of 31 played, over all continents and all kinds of surfaces. Although having some mental lapses in some sets, he always stepped on the pedal, found another gear and came through at the right moments. When his serve and backhand began to work, he was unstoppable. Like the Apollo mission the same year, The Rocket flew to the moon.
