Borg / Laver at Hilton Head
1976 SF action between Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver at the World Invitational Tennis Classic at Hilton Head. Borg would go on to defeat Laver to move on to the final where he disposed of Arthur Ashe. Held between 1973 and 1977, The World Invitational Tennis Classic (WITC) was a unique event where both men and women competed in the same competition. The matches were played in the standard singles and doubles disciplines whereby, apart from mixed doubles, men only played men and women only played …
May 25th, 2009 at 12:03 am
That first point where Laver hits a forehand volley at the service line is unbelievable. To hit that shot, your arm has to be ridiculously strong. The only player in the history of the game who could have possibly pulled that off was Hoad. Sampras or Federer could not do that.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Interesting insight. You have seen Hoad? I have read wonderful things about him – almost mystical things. Historians suggest that ‘on his best day’ he may have been the greatest ever. But for whatever reasons – injuries, inconsistencies, character – never put together a career of Laver’s caliber.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Laver was simply amazing in this match considering that at this time, he was a bit past his prime.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I have read that he was super strong, even stronger than Laver. He had great looks and looked to dominate tennis. He could hit the snot out of the ball. He is the only player that Pancho Gonzalez was in awe of – felt Hoad was his equal in ability. Only saw a tiny bit of footage of him. Downfall was lack of motivation and injuries, but was considered Laver’s equal in terms of talent. Gonzalez said Hoad was better than Laver.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Good stuff. Gonzales was quite outspoken about the greats, but had a tendency to exagerrate at times – toot the horn of his favorites and underrate some other guys. Still, there was a lot of truth to his comments and they were always interesting. Anyway, as far as Hoad is concerned – what interests me is how revered he is despite what we could called underachievement, in relation to a guy like Rosewall who won probably as much as Laver, and yet was so unheralded then and now.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I guess you have two opposites in Hoad and Rosewall as you properly mentioned. People are more fascinated by the underachiever with big talent than the overachiever with good talent. They always wonder what could be. I admire Mats Wilander more than any player because he was so smart and maximized hit talents. He wasn’t blessed with a huge serve and huge groundstrokes, but blessed with a huge heart. Rosewall was the Wilander of his generation.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I wonder what Borg was thinking? “Damn, this is best tennis player that has ever walked this planet. He is hitting shots that I can only dream of.”
May 27th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Probably. In his book Borg wrote that he idolized Laver.
June 15th, 2009 at 1:59 am
I’ve done that. I play with a Wilson K Factor 90, its hard but not impossible. Its all in the timing when you flick the wrist through a little to shoot the ball off. Anyway you dont have to tell me how talented Laver was because thats all I heard growing up from this older man who taught me, who used to play with Laver in their junior days.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
If you have some stories to relay about Laver, please do. That must have been quite the experience for your coach.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Hmm there isnt really much to tell haha, except that my coach (hes not really my coach just gave me pointers here and there at social tennis) used to play with Laver and a few other juniors at Milton (brisbane), Gold Coast etc where they themselves were coached with Harry Hopman. The most I remember was him telling me about Laver’s huge forearms, how Charlie Hollace who discovered him made him switch to Continental and various shots like down the line banana shots and volleys of course.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Cool – thanks for sharing.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Oh and another funny thing Harry Hopman got kids to do when learning to serve was throw their racquets over the fence as far as the could…..too bad he was an alcoholic.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:44 am
hahaha .. Rosewall didn’t like Hopman very much. Said that he gave himself a lot of undeserved credit for the development of all these players.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:46 am
haha not surpising.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Sampras idolized Laver too (even his peers cheered him in the stands – I saw Nastase do this ‘Go Rocket!’). Laver was so likable and respected like royalty almost even as he faded in years.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Saw your comment 1 year later (!) and I’ve always wondered the same thing. There was a series with AMAZING Rod indoor carpet matches (WCT I think) sponsored by Rothman’s (yes, cigarettes!!!) on videotape. Very, very clear. They must exist somewhere in storage. One day maybe I can track them down.
)
July 6th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
19 actually, if you include his Pro Slams – Wembley 4X, US Pro 3X and French Pro 1X – making an extra 8 Slams! Funny thing is his 1st Pro year (’63) was ‘flat’ – no ‘Slams’.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
If you do, please let me know. Would love to see the WCT matches.
July 25th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
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July 31st, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Laver, Sampras and Borg are my three favourite players.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
you may be confused with entries to the Aus open in the era after laver – true he didn’t come back home after about ‘71 because of his business in the US
August 4th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
You might find it funny that he was the best player in the world, and an Australian; yet here in australia, we were all being coached to use techniques more common to Rosewall or Newcombe – regardless of individual strengths and weaknesses.
The way he waits with the racquet in a more relaxed position; more keeping of the racquet head behind the line of the ball with less obvious “backswing”; backhand contact and follow through more like Federer, on cross court particularly……
August 4th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
then the rest of the world “discovered” these improvements and accentuated aspects to suit their conditions….and look where Australia is now.
Aside from Hewitt and Phillipoussis, our entire last two generations still played more like Rosewall or Newcombe – Alexander, Dent, Cash, Fitzgerald, Masur, the Woodies.
Fortunately so many of those who played against Laver opened academies and brought on the “latin” and European countries – so his legacy is not lost.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I was talking to a local teaching pro who is considered the guru of strokes. I asked him how could Laver hit a continental topspin forehand. He said it was only because of Laver’s huge forearm. With my kids, I tried doing it and felt like I was going to break my arm. Amazing strength Laver had.