Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Rod Laver 

The Great Tennis Player Rod Laver. Photo By Brisbane City Council – Wikimedia

Top 10 Unbelievable Facts About Rod Laver   

Rodney George Laver, better known as Rod Laver, is an Australian former tennis player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport.  

During a 23-year career that spanned the amateur, pro, and Open eras, Laver was ranked eleven times in the World Top 10 between 1959 and 1975. He was number one for four times, that is in 1961, 1962, 1968, and 1969. 

Here are the top 10 facts about Rod Laver. 

1. Rod Played Tennis With His Mum 

Rodney George Laver was born on 9 August 1938 in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. He was the third of four children of Roy Laver, a cattleman and butcher, and his wife Melba Roffey.  

The Laver family owned a 9300-hectare property that was located in Marlborough, Queensland. Rod’s mum was a world-famous opera singer from Richmond, Australia. She also loved playing tennis and was good at it. The family played tennis often. 

Rod shared a special bond with his mum. The two used to play tennis together and she would prepare sandwiches and snacks for her son as he went to junior events. They, at one time, collaborated as a mother-son duo to play a junior event and they won the tournament. 

When he was 13years, Rod Laver took on his older brother Bob in the finals of the junior division of the Central Queensland Championship. Rod lost.  

2. Rod Dropped Out of School for a Career in Tennis   

Rod Laver Playing. Photo By Rob Bogaerts – Wikimedia

Laver was a teenager when he left school to pursue a tennis career that lasted 24 years. Charlie Hollis coached him in Queensland and later by the Australian Davis Cup team captain Harry Hopman.  

Laver was both Australian and US Junior champions in 1957. He had his breakthrough on the world stage in 1959 when he was 21 years.  

Laver was ranked the world’s number one amateur in 1962. He achieved so much in the world of tennis and all this time he was still an amateur. 

3. He Started Playing Professionally When He Was 24 Years 

Laver turned professional after winning the Davis Cup with the Australian team in December 1962 when he was 24 years old.  

The main reason for going pro was to get a chance to play against the best players in the world. The financial gains which were an important part of tennis back in those days were a bonus. 

4. Rod Won 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles 

Laver has 11 Grand Slam wins to his name. His career wins and grand slam wins indicate his greatness. The wins came in the 60s as these were the most successful years for the Australian tennis player.   

 Rod Laver has accumulated over $1.5 million in prize money from winning several tournaments and grand slam events.   

5. Rod’s Left Arm Was Very Strong 

Sculpture depicting Rod Laver outside the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne. Photo by MelburnianSculpture – Wikimedia Commons

This player was slightly short and medium build. Nevertheless, Rod was very quick and had a strong left forearm that he used to serve and volley. This enabled him to play powerfully without losing control even when he was on the run and at full stretch. His left-handed serve was well disguised and wide swinging. 

Rod’s stroke technique was based on quick shoulder turns, true swings, and accurate timing, with aggressive groundstrokes to back it up. 

6. He Suffered a Stroke While Being Interviewed 

Rod Laver horrifically suffered a stroke on 27th July 1988. The stroke happened while ESPN-TV interviewed him in the United States for their ‘SportsCentury’ 20th Century sports retrospective series. 

He was hospitalized for a month and suffered from memory and speech difficulties thereafter. Luckily, he recovered well thanks to timely and excellent medical care. 

7. He Was Inducted into Several Halls of Fame   

Rod Laver Arena. Photo By slgckgc – Wikimedia Commons

Rod has received many honors over the years. Honoring his sporting career and accolades, the Tennis Association inducted him into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981.  

In 1985, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and upgraded to a Legend of Australian Sports in 2002. 

In 2009 Rod Laver was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. In October 2017, he was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Hall of Fame. 

8. Players Formed an Archway Using Rackets on His Wedding Day 

Rod Laver met Mary Shelby Peterson and they started dating. She was 10 years her senior, from Illinois, and was a divorced mom with three kids. 

In 1966, they got married at a church in San Rafael, California. At their wedding ceremony, well-known tennis players were in attendance.  

When the ceremony was over, the players raised their tennis rackets to form an archway outside the door of the church for the newlyweds to walk under on their way out. 

Three years later, the couple was blessed with a son, Rick Laver, who was born three weeks after Rod won the Grand Slam in 1969.  

Unfortunately, Mary Laver died in November 2012 at their home in Carlsbad following serious health problems, ending the couple’s 46 years of wonderful marriage life. She was 84 years old. 

9. Rod is Currently Dating 

Rod is currently dating Susan Johnson. Susan was previously married to businessman and Nabisco chairman, F. Ross Johnson, who died in 2016. 

While the two had known each other since the ’80s, they reconnected in 2018 after Johnson reached out via a phone call to prove to her friends that she knew the tennis legend. At the time they had both lost their spouses. 

The phone call changed everything, and the couple has been together ever since. Rod has been attending many tennis matches and public events in the company of his girlfriend. 

10. There are Places Named in His Honour 

Bust of Rod Laver at the Pat Rafter Arena, in Queensland. Photo By Kgbo – Wikimedia

In 2000, the Centre Court Stadium at Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open since 1988, was renamed Rod Laver Arena and a sculpture depicting him in action adorns the park grounds.   

The hall at the Rockhampton Tennis Association’s Victoria Park in Wandal was named the Rod Laver Hall in December 1963. 

There are two bronze Busts of Laver, one at the Pat Rafter Arena, in Queensland and the other on the banks of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton’s city center.  

A pedestrian footbridge connecting Queensland Tennis Centre to the Yeerongpilly train station is named the Rod Laver Footbridge.