page_title: Rod Laver
section_title: Before the Open Era (1963–68)
hierarchical_section_title: Rod Laver / Career / Professional / Before the Open Era (1963–68)
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Collectie / Archief&#160;: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie&#160;: [ onbekend ] Beschrijving&#160;: Tenniskampioenschappen in Noordwijk, Laver (Australie) in actie Datum&#160;: 20 augustus 1964 Locatie&#160;: Australië, Noordwijk Trefwoorden&#160;: kampioenschappen, tennis Persoonsnaam&#160;: Leaver Fotograaf&#160;: Gelderen, Hugo van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende&#160;: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort&#160;: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris&#160;: bekijk toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer&#160;: 916-7881
context_page_description: Rodney George Laver AC, MBE, better known as Rod Laver, is an Australian former tennis player. He was the No. 1 ranked professional from 1964 to 1970, spanning four years before and three years after the start of the Open Era in 1968. He also was the No. 1 ranked amateur in 1961–62.
  Laver's 200 singles titles are the most in tennis history. This included his all-time men's record of 10 or more titles per year for seven consecutive years. He excelled on all of the court surfaces of his time: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet.
  Laver won 11 Grand Slam singles titles, though he was banned from playing those tournaments for the five years prior to the Open Era. Laver is the only player to twice achieve a Grand Slam, in 1962 and 1969, and the latter remains the only time a man has done so in the Open Era. He also won eight Pro Slam titles, including the "pro Grand Slam" in 1967, and he contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when the Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the four majors.
  The Laver Cup Tournament and the Rod Laver Arena are named after him.
context_section_description: In December 1962 Laver turned professional after winning the Davis Cup with the Australian team. After an initial period of adjustment he quickly established himself among the leading professional players such as Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad and Andrés Gimeno, and also Pancho Gonzales when Gonzales returned to a full-time schedule in 1964. During the next seven years, Laver won the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships five times, including four in a row beginning in 1966.
  In the beginning of 1963, Laver was beaten consistently by both Rosewall and Hoad on an Australasian tour. Hoad won the first eight matches against Laver, and Rosewall won 11 out of 13. By the end of the year, however, with six tournament titles, Laver had become the No. 2 professional player behind Rosewall. In the first phase of the World Series tour, Laver finished second, with a 25-16 record. The top two players Rosewall and Laver then played a series of matches against each other to determine the champion. Rosewall won 14-4.  
  Laver's gross earnings for 1963 were $60,000, first among the pro players.
  In 1964, Laver and Rosewall both won seven important titles (in minor tournaments Laver won four and Rosewall won three), but Laver won 15 of 19 matches against Rosewall and captured the two most prestigious titles, the US Pro Championships over Gonzales and the Wembley Championships over Rosewall. In tennis week, Raymond Lee has described the Wembley match, where Laver came from 5–3 down in the fifth set to win 8–6, as possibly their best ever and one that changed tennis history. Lee regards this win as the one that began and established Laver's long reign as world number one. The other prestige title, the French pro, was won by Rosewall.
  In 1965, Laver was clearly the No. 1 professional player, winning 17 titles and 13 of 18 matches against Rosewall. In ten finals, Laver won eight against the still dangerous Gonzales. Laver won the Wembley Pro beating Gimeno in the final. 
  In 1966, Laver won 16 events, including the US Pro Championships (beating Rosewall in a five set final), the Wembley Pro Championship (beating Rosewall easily in the final), and eight other important tournaments.
  In 1967, Laver won 19 titles, including the Wimbledon Pro (beating Rosewall in straight sets in the final), the US Pro Championships (beating Gimeno in the final), the Wembley Pro Championships (beating Rosewall in the final), and the French Pro Championship (beating Gimeno in the final), which gave him a clean sweep of the most important professional titles, a professional Grand Slam. The Wimbledon Pro tournament in 1967 was the only professional event ever staged on Wimbledon's Centre Court before the Open Era began.
caption: Rod Laver at Noordwijk in 1964
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