She said she had no ill will towards gays and lesbians and that, unlike dumped Wallabies player Israel Folau, had never condemned them to hell. Then you get the radicals coming at me, you have got these minority groups in every area now having a say and taking on nations and taking on big companies.” They know that marriage is between a man and a woman and they will say that. There are many gay people who don’t believe in gay marriage. “Many gay people think my name shouldn’t come off it. “It was a different phase of my life from where I am now and if we are not big enough as a nation and a game to face those challenges there is something wrong. “I don’t feel any of that should be brought into my tennis career," she said. She said this should have no bearing on her tennis legacy or the 2003 decision to name a Melbourne Park show court in her honour. Less than 24 hours later, Laver partnered with Newcombe to clinch the tie with a straight-set victory over Stan Smith and Erik van Dillen.Two years after same-sex marriage was endorsed by a national plebiscite and enshrined in federal law, Court remains steadfast in her belief that only a man and woman can marry. On this day, though, down two sets to one, Laver won the next two, 6-3, 6-1. The opponent was Tom Gorman, who’d upset Laver at Wimbledon in 1971. Opening day of singles began with Newcombe beating Smith, 6-4 in the fifth. “We were men on a mission, but the Yanks had come to play and had no intention of rolling over for the Australian Dad’s Army.” “We were determined that when we got on the Qantas flight back to Australia, in our luggage would be the Davis Cup,” wrote Laver in his autobiography. But that fall, he’d whipped himself into form, competing all over Europe, Asia and Australia.īy finals time, seeking to break America’s five-year hold on the Cup, Laver was primed. By his own admission, Laver that year had not played particularly well. Laver himself played on five winning teams, a period that spanned from 1959 to ’73. For to Aussies like Laver, nothing mattered more than Davis Cup. It's also meaningful that the Laver Cup is a team event. “I have never played him when he was well,” is an Australian’s way of subtly sharing contempt for such whiners.Īt Wimbledon in 1968, Laver was so eager to conceal a sprained left wrist that, in the early days of the tournament, keen to avoid what Laver called “prying eyes,” he and Mary discreetly strapped it in a phone booth. Said Laver, “My opponents were also my best friends.”Īs one example of the code Laver personifies, Australians hate to talk about their injuries, lest they be seen as an excuse to justify a defeat and therefore reduce the significance of another person’s achievement. It all adds up to a transcendent blend of competition and camaraderie. They are quintessentially Australian: grace, tranquility, high regard for fellow players, respect for the entire game. These include Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras, Billie Jean King, John Newcombe and, most vividly, a pair of Laver’s fellow lefthanders, John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova-each of whom cites Laver as their stylistic role model.īut even beyond what Laver did with his racquet, perhaps the best way to emulate him is to study and practice his values. I felt like we needed to see the legends of our sport more frequently.”įederer is but one of many tennis players who’ve extensively praised Laver. “I had a vision once upon a time,” said Federer in 2017 at the conclusion of the first edition of the Laver Cup, “that we should honor the greatest players of our sport because there’s only that many roles that a legend can play in our sport. Roger Federer and his management team created the Laver Cup to honor the incredible Australian. One simple sentence summarizes the Laver resume: He is the only player in tennis history to have twice won all four singles majors in a calendar year. Across decades of big-time tennis, through a major health scare he had a quarter-century ago, in the wake of the 2012 death of his wife Mary, Laver continues to be a presence in his own understated, charismatic way. Today marks the birthday of the man for whom the event is named. 22-24, the sixth edition of the Laver Cup will be held on the country's west coast at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. This week usually represents the pinnacle of Canada's professional tennis season with a pair of 1000-level events are contested in Montreal and Toronto.īut just next month, Canada will host more world-class tennis.
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