Each match is a huge effort from a physical point of view. You can only hit so many balls before your elbow or some part of your body is going to say, ‘Hey, don’t do that to me.’ Rod Laver Read Quote
Camaraderie builds. We travelled together to Rome, Paris, Wimbledon, the U.S., lots of places. In a way, I miss it right now. My opponents were also my best friends. Rod Laver Read Quote
Funny thing about the volatile and biased French crowds. While they’d prefer to be cheering a countryman and giving his foreign opponent merry hell, if there was no Frenchman in the game, they’d always support a Continental player over an Englishman, an American, or an Australian. Rod Laver Read Quote
Right through school, I was a handy cricketer, a batsman and a left-arm spinner who bowled leg breaks. Rod Laver Read Quote
It can be a daunting prospect for any player to know that his opponent will never, ever quit. Rod Laver Read Quote
Players who win on a clay surface are those who can control the ball, playing steadily and accurately from the back-court, keeping the ball in play and moving it around with changes of speed and spin, and resisting the temptation to over-hit. Rod Laver Read Quote
I wasn’t embarrassed that I’d had a stroke, but I just didn’t want people to think I was milking it or looking for sympathy. It happened, and I dealt with it. Afterwards, I tried to do what I could for other people who had strokes, speaking at hospitals that treated stroke victims. Rod Laver Read Quote
We were pretty darn good – fit and ready to play – but today’s level is different. Those ground strokes are ever so much faster, coming back at you at a pretty good speed. Footwork-wise, you’ve got to be ready to hit that next shot. It’s a tough time. Rod Laver Read Quote
