Ken Rosewall

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Ken Rosewall bigraphy, stories - Australian tennis player

Ken Rosewall : biography

2 November 1934 –

Kenneth Robert ("Ken") Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won a record 23 tennis Majors including 8 Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record 15 Pro Slam titles and a record 35 Major finals overall. He won the Pro Grand Slam in 1963. Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam. He is considered to be one of the top male tennis players of all time., 14 September 2007 He had a renowned backhand and enjoyed a long career at the highest levels from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. He was one of the two best male players for about nine years and was the World No. 1 player for a number of years in the early 1960s. He was ranked among the top 20 players, amateur or professional, every year from 1952 through 1977. Rosewall is the only player to have simultaneously held Pro Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (1962–1963). At the 1971 Australian Open he became the first male player during the open era to win a Grand Slam tournament without dropping a set.

Rosewall was born in Sydney into a family that played tennis and owned tennis courts. A natural left-hander, he was taught by his father to play right-handed. Perhaps as a result of this unorthodox training (or in spite of it), he developed a powerful and effective backhand but never had anything more than an accurate but relatively soft serve. He was 1.70 m tall (5 ft 7 in) and weighed 67 kg (145 pounds) and was ironically nicknamed "Muscles" by his fellow-players because of his lack of them. He was, however, fast, agile, and tireless, with a deadly volley. His sliced backhand was his strongest shot, and, along with the very different backhand of former player Don Budge, has generally been considered one of the best, if not the best, backhands yet seen.

The father of Brett and Glenn Rosewall, and grandfather of five, Rosewall now lives in northern Sydney, where he still frequently plays tennis.

Amateur career: 1950 through 1956

At the age of 15 and still a junior player, Rosewall reached the semifinals of the 1950 New South Wales Metropolitan Championships (not to be confused with the New South Wales Championships), where he was defeated by the world-class adult player Ken McGregor. The following year, he won his first men’s tournament in Manly.

In 1952, still only 17, Rosewall reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Championships, upsetting the top-seeded Vic Seixas in the fourth round 3–6, 6–2, 7–5, 5–7, 6–3 before losing to Gardnar Mulloy in five sets. In his end-of-year rankings, the British tennis expert Lance Tingay ranked Rosewall and Lew Hoad, his equally youthful doubles partner, jointly as the tenth best amateur players in the world.

Rosewall was only 18 years old when he won the singles titles at the Australian Championships, the French Championships, and the Pacific Southwest Championships in 1953. He was the top seed at Wimbledon but lost a quarterfinal match to Kurt Nielsen. Rosewall then reached the semifinals at the U.S. Championships, where he was defeated by Tony Trabert 7–5, 6–3, 6–3. Rosewall lost again to Trabert in the Challenge Round of the Davis Cup in Melbourne, Australia 6–3, 6–4, 6–4. Rosewall, however, won the fifth and deciding rubber of that tie, defeating Seixas 6–2, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4. At the end of the year, Tingay placed Trabert first and Rosewall second in his annual amateur rankings.

In 1954, Rosewall defeated Trabert in a five-set semifinal at Wimbledon but lost the final to Jaroslav Drobný 13–11, 4–6, 6–2, 9–7.

Rosewall won the singles title at the Australian Championships for the second time in 1955, defeating Hoad in the final 9–7, 6–4, 6–4. At the U.S. Championships, Trabert defeated Rosewall in the final 9–7, 6–3, 6–3.

In 1956, Rosewall and Hoad captured all the Grand Slam men’s doubles titles except at the French Championships, from which Rosewall was absent. For several years in their youthful careers, Rosewall and Hoad were known as "The Gold-dust Twins." In singles, Rosewall lost to Hoad in the final of two Grand Slam tournaments. At the Australian Championships, Hoad defeated Rosewall 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, 7–5 and at Wimbledon, Hoad won 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–4. Rosewall, however, prevented Hoad from winning the Grand Slam when Rosewall won their final at the U.S. Championships 4–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–3.