Who was Rod Laver, the only male tennis player to have won a full Grand Slam

The past few decades have see some exceptional male tennis players dominate the game with the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all stamping their individual marks on the game with countless trophies and titles.

Whilst the debate about who the best male tennis player of all time rages on, Novak Djokovic with 24th Grand Slam titles, eclipses both Rafa Nadal and Federer with the Serbian still breaking tennis records and consolidating his position as perhaps the best male tennis player of all time in terms of honours.

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With the Belgrade native very much in the ‘twilight’ of his career aged 37, it’s highly unlikely that Djokovic will get to emulate the feat of one of the games icons with Rod Laver pulling off in 1969, something that no other male tennis player has ever managed to accomplish.

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Laver trailblazer

Australia’s Rod Laver, remains to this day, the only male or female player in tennis history to win two calendar Grand Slams (1962-1969) in singles winning a record 200 tournaments and held the No. 1 world ranking from 1964-70.

Laver developed a technically complete serve-and-volley game, with aggressive groundstrokes with legendary English tennis commentator Dan Maskell described the Queensland native as “technically faultless”.

Now aged 86, Laver resides in San Diego (California) with centre court at Melbourne Park (home to the Australian Open) named Rod Laver Arena in honour of his incredible achievements in the game.

Laver’s honors