Ken Rosewall
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Ken Robert Rosewall, born November 2, 1934 in Sydney, Australia, was a champion tennis player. He was born into a family that played tennis and owned tennis courts. A natural left-hander, Rosewall's father taught him to play right-handed. Perhaps as a result of this unorthodox training (or in spite of it), he developed a powerful and very effective backhand but never had anything more than an accurate but relatively soft serve. He was small (only 5'7" and 135 pounds) and was called "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 the earlier player Don Budge, has generally been considered one of the two best backhands of all time.
He was only 18 years old when he won the Australian Championships and French Championships men's singles title. In 1956, partnered with Lew Hoad, he won the doubles Grand Slam in tennis, taking all four major championships that year. For several years in their youthful careers Rosewall and Hoad were known as "The Gold-dust Twins."
Rosewall turned professional in 1956 after his surprise victory over Hoad in the United States Championships at Forest Hills, thereby depriving Hoad of winning the Grand Slam. In a series of head-to-head matches against the reigning king of professional tennis, Pancho Gonzales, Rosewall was badly beaten, 51 matches to 26.
In 1963, with Gonzales in semi-retirement, and Rod Laver a newly fledged pro not yet at the height of his career, Rosewall was clearly the best player in the world on a day-to-day basis.
During an outstanding playing career he remained virtually injury-free, something that helped him to still win tournaments at the age of 43 and remain ranked in the top 15 in the world. Although he was a finalist 4 times at the Wimbledon championships, it was the one major tournament that eluded him.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1980.
Grand Slam Tournament wins:
- Australian Championships:
- singles champion - 1953, 1971
- doubles champion - 1953, 1956, 1972
- French Championships:
- singles champion - 1953, 1968
- doubles champion - 1956
- Wimbledon Championships:
- doubles champion - 1953, 1956
- US Championships
- singles champion - 1956, 1970
- doubles champion - 1956
Professional World Singles Tournament wins, Wembley, England:
- singles champion -- 1957, 1960-63, 1968-69
Adapted from the article Ken Rosewall (http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.phtml?title=Ken_Rosewall), from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.