by Rod Laver with Bud CollinsThe book begins with a description of being on the road while Laver’s wife, Mary Benson, is expecting their first child. The baby is due, by the way, on the same day as the U.S. Open final. Beyond that factoid, a little family biographical information and a short chapter written by his wife, there is very little about the player’s personal life. In fact, he actually creates a more complete sense of family in his descriptions of his fellow tennis greats and their backgrounds, including those of Tony Roche, Roy Emerson, Arthur Ashe, Ken Rosewall, Pancho Gonzalez, John Newcombe, Manolo Santana and coaches Harry Hopman and Charlie Hollis. In one instance, there is a laugh-out-loud story about Marty Mulligan, an Aussie who later played for Italy and whose pals came to call him Martino Mulligano. Marty’s real claim to fame was that he was the only player who had a match point against Laver in either of his Grand Slams.
Laver’s match descriptions are quite impressive. It’s hard to imagine getting the sense of a match from simply reading about it, but the Australian, with the help of Bud Collins, manages to move it off the page and into the reader’s imagination. He includes details on the weather, court condition, the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and then goes stroke for stroke through the most exciting parts of the match.
Tidbits of information abound and, as a tennis fan, I had a great time comparing different eras. There was no tiebreak until 1970, bad calls also happened back then, showers were allowed between the third and fourth sets (at least at the Australian Open), withdrawing for an injury was unheard of, American players in the amateur era were usually college boys, and not every Slam had seven rounds. Laver does not point this out directly, but he mentions playing 26 rounds during the 1969 Grand Slam. Math is not my strong point, but I do believe seven times four equals 28. With a little digging around, I discovered that Appendix A spells out the results of each match of the Grand Slams of Don Budge, Laver (twice), Maureen Connelly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf. For most of them, the Australian Open had only five rounds, while the French and the U.S. Opens often had only six. In fact, the only person who has won the Grand Slam by playing 28 matches is Steffi Graf.
This book may have been considered a memoir when it was first published because it covers a tennis era that people would have recently witnessed. But 38 years later, it reads more as a history. We have to put ourselves back in that period where Laver won the Grand Slam as an amateur in 1962 and was exiled when he turned pro the next year. It wasn’t until the Open Era began in 1968 that he was able to accomplish the astounding feat of another Grand Slam. Most tennis fans know this history, but the reader must keep it in mind because, whether as a conscious choice or not, the narrative author skips around in time throughout the book. It’s as though Laver tells a story that reminds him of another story and so he just goes there, with no consideration for the reader. (Perhaps this shortcoming should be blamed on Collins as the professional writer.) The book is full of such “flashbacks” that aren’t identified as such. I longed for some transitional phrases or even white space.
Minor concerns such as narrative structure don’t take away from the stories Laver tells, which present a true fan of the sport with a personal look into an important part of tennis history. I loved the content of this autobiography and nothing could have stopped me from reading to the end.
The Education of a Tennis Player is currently available as a paperback from TennisWarehouse or directly from the publisher, New Chapter Press.