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99999999w m mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm m m m mm m w m» B 9 B B Bm b b mm m m b bKen Rosewall: Grand Slammer reflects back 40 yearsAsk Ken Rosewall to name the Connors and John McEnroe. day’s No. 1 achievers — Jim Cou- I in 1980. he first aDDeared in the torAsk Ken Rosewall to name thebest tennis player he ever saw and he offers you a list.“So you want to write a book?” he says, laughing as he prepares to look back over 40 years of big-time tennis.Then he spins off a list of opponents who defined his own competitive era — Pancho Gonzales, FYank Sedgman, Rod Laver and Lew Hoad — and extends his showcase through Bjom Borg, JimmyConnors and John McEnroe.“You see it all depends on your frame of reference,” Rosewall explains. “Are you talking about a match, a tournament, a season or a career? Hoad, for example, was dynamic. But his career lasted a relatively short time.“Put longevity aside and you have different surfaces to consider. Should our man be an all-arounder on grass, clay and hardcourt? To-The pros at Tibbetts have learnedthe importance of keeping the eye on the bail in each real estate transaction, if you'd like that kind of attention to your needs, speak to the people at Tibbetts.37 Corbin Drrve Darien. CT 06820655-7724TIBBETTSREAL ESTATE89 Elm Street New Canaan, CT 06840966-1633achieversrier and Stefan Edberg — don’t play on grass anymore.“Of course,” Rosewall adds, “they play with more powerful rackets today. So you would also have to consider the assumption that ability from an era would transcend the technology and transfer to a later era”So let’s reframe the original question to Rosewall and narrow the focus: Who was the best opponent you ever played?Rosewall’s response is less ambivalent if still not conclusive.“Day in, day out,” he says, “Gonzales was as good as anyone.”In 1957, when Rosewall was 22, he was recruited by Jack Kramer as opposition for Pancho Gonzales in a professional tour of the U.S. on a makeshift indoor court.“Gonzales,” recalls Rosewall,“had a powerful serve, quickness and a great physique. On a fast canvas-type court, he was at his best.” That first winter season, Gonzales dominated the tour, winning50 times against Rose wall’s 26. In later years, as Rosewall gained maturity and Gonzales faded, the series between them was to extend to nearly 100 matches and Rosewall remembers playing those later matchups “fairly close to even.”Any retrospective of that era would have to include Rosewall himself prominently. Elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame1980, ,10 in 1952 and as late as 1974 he was ranked as high as No. 2. In between, he won the U.S. Open Championship twice (1956 and 1970), theAustralian Open four times and the French Open three times.But Rose wall’s Aussie modesty is still deeply ingrained in him and his self-effacing personality would never permit himself to look in the mirror.Today, at 59, virtually every tennis mountain conquered long ago, he looks forward to selective appearances on the Legends Tour, playing points with Tony Roche who lives nearby in Sydney, Australia, and overseeing business interests that include a resort in Southeast Queensland, Australia’s so-called Gold Coast.tf T9n fortunate that people still like my style of play,” is all he will allow himself.Looking at the game today, if he could change one rule, what woul it be?“When my father introduced me to tennis, the rule used to be that you had to serve with one foot touching the surface,” Rosewall says. “Without that restriction to-canand impartmore pace to the stroke, perhaps overemphasizing the importance the serve. That might be changed to restore more balance to Dlav.”
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Greenwich News
Greenwich, Connecticut, US
Thu, Mar 11, 1993
Page 74
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