San Diego : If Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to complete a Grand Slam, he’ll have a big fan in the last man to do it.
Rod Laver knows what it takes to complete tennis’ ultimate achievement, having won the Grand Slam as an amateur in 1962 and again as a pro in 1969. Djokovic is halfway there heading into Wimbledon, which starts Monday.
“I think he’s got a good shot at pulling it off and I’d be happy seeing it,” Laver said over lunch at La Costa, the golf and tennis resort near his home. “You don’t own the territory. It’s a feather in his cap if he can pull off a Grand Slam. He’s got two already.”
Djokovic completed a career slam by winning the French Open earlier this month. That gave him the rarity of holding all four major titles at once.
Rarer still would be a true grand slam, winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in the same season. Laver, the red-headed “Rocket” from Australia, is the last man to do it, 47 summers ago.
While Djokovic’s four straight major titles aren’t the ultimate slam, “owning the four at one time, it’s one hell of an effort,” Laver said.
“I was thrilled it happened for me,” Laver said. “You don’t start off by thinking, ‘I’m going to win a Grand Slam.’ My thoughts were just, ‘Hey, I’m in the event. I entered. That’s what happened in ’69. I told my wife, ‘I want to enter all the tournaments.’ “
He likely would have won many more majors but was banned from the Grand Slam events in his prime after he turned pro in 1963. He did not return to the majors until the Open era in 1968, and then promptly won Wimbledon for the third time. When the Lavers arrived at the 1969 Australian Open, Rod found out that his wife was pregnant and due right around the finals of the U.S. Open.
No man has come close to repeating the feat. Until Djokovic, only Mats Wilander in 1988 and Jim Courier in 1992 made it halfway by winning the Australian Open and French Open in the same year. Steffi Graf was the last woman to win the Grand Slam, in 1988. Serena Williams came painfully close last year before losing to unseeded Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals. Laver was at the French Open when Djokovic won. He’d be going to Wimbledon if not for a cold.
