The Education of a Tennis Player
Rod Laver with Bud Collins
New Chapter Press, 248 pages
“Scrawny and slow.”
That’s what Harry Hopman thought of Rod Laver when he first laid eyes on the humble Queensland farm boy, who was introduced to the game on a homemade ant-bed court.
So much for first impressions.
Laver went on to win 11 major singles titles and become the first man since Don Budge to win the calendar-year Slam, a feat he accomplished not once but TWICE. The Education of a Tennis Player is a first-class first-hand account of the Aussie’s storied ’69 campaign, in which — as a 31-year-old — he swept the Aussie Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Originally published in ’71, the book — co-authored by veteran journalist Bud Collins — has been updated with new content, including his recovery from a near-fatal stroke in ’98. The memoir also features descriptions of Laver’s most suspenseful matches and memorable portraits of his biggest rivals (Rosewall, Hoad, Roche and Gonzalez among them), plus The Rocket recounts his early days in tennis and offers tips on how players of all levels can improve their game.
