Does Laver fear his greatest achievement, the CYGS, might be done by Nole this year?

I remember the cold face of Laver while standing behind Djokovic at the trophy ceremony, without even having a smile while Djokovic speaks glorifying the great Laver...

Does Laver fear his greatest achievement, the CYGS, might be done by Nole this year?

The CYGS is the holy grail of tennis, If Nole does it by winning all 4 slams this year, Laver will have to share it with Nole, in the Open era that is.

Maybe that is why Laver never smiled during the trophy ceremony, he fears it might happen in 2012.

He is a Nadal fanboy distraught when el matador fell away after 4-2 lead.

I think he's far too old, sensible and mature to worry about such things.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:He is a Nadal fanboy distraught when el matador fell away after 4-2 lead.

Laver has always been a Federer fan because of his style. He does not like grinders like Nadal and Djokovic.

Djokovic confident of calendar grand slam


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-30/djokovic-confident-of-calendar-grand-slam/3801006

I'd say more hopeful than confident.

Well he only just beat Murray and Nadal in AO.
And remember Fed beat him in the RG, and nearly USO last year.
It's not impossible but improbable.

I think Laver is a pretty modest guy and has always been appreciative of the younger guys and seems to enjoy interacting with them. I love Nole but his chances of pulling of the grandslam this season is very slim. Last year when he snuck up on everyone was his best chance but a bit of bad luck at FO with an extended nearly 5 day layoff before his match with Fed and the added pressure of the unbeaten streak in that match disrupted his timing early on in the semi. Still he wins that 4th set from Fed which he did have set point on and we are talking about Laverovic.

Nole can do it, and is certainly up for it. As a fan, I can't ask for more. GO NOLEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

As for Laver, nobody likes their records being broken no matter what they say.

If Nole manages to do it, I'm sure Laver will be very happy for him as he knows how hard it is.

Nadal ha a chance to do it and so did Federer. Now it's Nole's turn. Maybe his best chance.


I dn't think he feels pressurised by it, but probably will come USO.

There is a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge in the meantime...

Exactly, way premature to talk about after the AO with three more grandslam to play.

I honestly think Laver is far too much of a classy guy to worry about it, but it shouldn't worry him for 3 main reasons:-

1:- If Novak does it, Laver did it first.

2:- If Novak does it Laver did it twice.

3:- If Novak somehow does it twice, Laver could point out the years he was denied entry to the slams as a pro.

Laver would've beaten Nadull far quicker than 5 hours 53 minutes...sorry Djoko-egg-chamber fans.

Let's keep in mind here that Djokovic won the final two Slams of 2011 - to complete a calendar Grand Slam, it would mean he'd have won six consecutive Slams. I simply can't see how this is humanly possible in such a competitive era.

That said, it's between only him and Nadal at the French Open - and a non-calendar Grand Slam is just as good for me.

"1:- If Novak does it, Laver did it first."

amen. people keep agonizing over their player's records unnecessarily.


the first people who set the records are never forgotten. never. and they occupy the same pedestal as the ones who broke them.

so fed came along and eclipsed sampras' slam haul, but sampras is just as great as fed is, as are laver and a few others.

88Chris05 wrote:That said, it's between only him and Nadal at the French Open

I personally think Murray, Federer and Del Potro are all threats for him at Roland Garros. It could be that beating Nadal is even easier than getting past these others, as Nadal lacks weapons to harm Djokovic.

Any chance Söderling will be fit again by late May?!

deeznu wrote:I remember the cold face of Laver while standing behind Djokovic at the trophy ceremony, without even having a smile ...

Does Laver fear ... ?

The CYGS is the holy grail of tennis ...

Maybe that is why Laver never smiled during the trophy ceremony ...

I am amazed by your powers of deduction. I am sure when you are out shopping and someone happens to look at you, your powers of deduction go into overdrive.

I am sure that Mr Laver normally spends his 2 ams asleep in his bed rather than standing up in a large presentation ceremony in the middle of the "Rod Laver Court".

If I may be facetious, even Fognini is a threat to Djokovic at FO 2012.

( SoCal).

Why would it bother Laver?

There are some records which are held individually, but not sure as to why a retired player would be worried about the records they set.

Not like he can change it now is it?

In his book, Laver mentions both Federer and Nadal coming close to his CYGS. He goes on to say, he would welcome players joining the CYGS club.

He has two CYGSs, not one. The two CYGSs are very tough to achieve.

deeznu wrote:I remember the cold face of Laver while standing behind Djokovic at the trophy ceremony, without even having a smile while Djokovic speaks glorifying the great Laver...

I am surprised that he stayed for 7+ hours at 73 years of age. Rosewall is 77 now. I would give both of them some leeway. I have seen some retired players sleeping during such matches.

I was going to put that all records are made to be broken, but that isn't entirely true (in cricket, I don't think anyone will ever match Don Bradman's batting average or the number of first class wickets Wilfred Rhodes took).

However, there is a chance for Djokovic - it is though a slim one. Even Federer at his peak only managed 3 slams and a final defeat at the FO, and I would argue that there are more realistic challengers to Djokovic winning Wimbledon and the USO than Federer faced (i.e. where Nadal in Paris was the big challenge that he never quite managed to overcome).

I don't think Laver would bear any grudges if someone did manage to match his achievement - that no-one has in the 42 seasons since he managed in the earliest years of the Open era shows what a tremendously difficult task it is.

One thing is certain - Djokovic is the only guy who has a chance this year...

dummy_half wrote:... However, there is a chance for Djokovic - it is though a slim one. ...

Djokovic should forget about the "calendar slam" and focus on the non-calendar year slam which he will gain if he wins at Roland Garros in May.


"In 1982 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) redefined the Grand Slam as four consecutive victories that could span two calendar years. As defined in the constitution of the ITF: "The Grand Slam titles are the championships of Australia, France, the United States of America and Wimbledon. Players who hold all four of these titles at the same time achieve the Grand Slam". As this definition differs from the original definition of the Grand Slam as restricted to a single calendar year, there has been some controversy towards this redefinition in the tennis world. ...

No [recent] male players have accomplished a non-calendar year grand slam, making Laver the most recent male grand-slammer even by this more relaxed definition". From Wiki.

Nole is my Golden Titanium Super Grand Slam Goat of AAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL times

There!