Rod Laver - Roland Garros 1969 Men's Singles final set

[@amarsekhar2560]

I am 70 years old. Played club tennis back then. Have watched some of the greats from close quarters. Tennis in the wooden racquet era / small head era, was beautiful to watch and play. Tremendous variety of shot, guile and deftness. Nothing sounds and feels better than a well played shot, coming off a wood racquet’s tiny sweet spot. My all time favourite racquet however was the Head Vila’s.

[@dks13827]

Same here. I can't watch tennis now, at all.

[@maks8891]

Mine,Davis wooden

[@gomezaddams4347]

It is almost stunning to watch how both of them were constantly looking for the opportunity to charge to net. Tennis was a very different, and in my opinion, more interesting sport back then. Too bad the ruling parties didn’t require that pros continue to use wood racquets.

[@ta_2477]

ボール見えんくない？

[@DonQuickZote]

And rule out double handed backhands.

[@danguee1]

With a special exemption for Nalbandian.... (maybe even Seb Korda!)

[@luperamos7307]

Wow. Real tennis. No stupid sponsors all over the place and wooden racquets that made for a stylistically interesting way of play.

[@rogerparker4468]

Thanks for the fabulous post. Laver V Rosewall !!! Wow, where did you find this? They might almost be forgotten now by contemporary tennis fans but Federer is a fan, and before him Sampras worshiped Laver and his great and many Australian contemporaries like Rosewall, Emerson, Roche, Hoad, etc, and aimed to emulate them in deed and manner. Even with wooden rackets, you can literallly hear how hard they are hitting the ball. And clay seemed to play much faster then.

[@KevinatorPhase1]

McEnroe idolized "Rocket" Rod Laver, as well. Especially since he was a "Lefty", like himself.

[@okaunis]

Do you know how difficult it is to play in black and white?

[@DonQuickZote]

Not to mention the invisible balls they were playing with back then.

[@TheMightySandow]

Note the pace of play. This is according to the rules of tennis - play should be continuous... Meaning that taking rest between points should not be allowed. Also, they did not even have chairs at change of ends.

[@danielamadeo6877]

ROD LAVER, EL MEJOR TENISTA DE LA HISTORIA.- SAQUE Y RED.- TALENTOSO, RAPIDO, HUMILDE.- DUNLOP MAXPLAY.- LLEGUE A TENER 3 DUNLOP MAXPLAY DE MADERA,. LAS GUARDABA EN SU CUADRANTE.- ERAN EPOCAS MARAVILLOSAS.-

[@MrJeepsters]

Je ne savais pas que le tennis était déjà diffusé à la tv française. Je croyais que Jean Raynal ne commentait le tennis que dans les années 77/78. Ce qu'a réalisé Rod Laver est très fort : 2 GC en 7 ans d'intervalle.

[@miskwaad]

Laver's wrist was amazing - some of his shots look like ping pong yet the shot is hard and deep

[@danielamadeo6877]

ESE AÑO, 1000000000969, LAVER, DESPUES GANO THE USA OPEN Y LOS 4 GRAN SLAMS, POR SEGUNDA VEZ.- 1962 Y 1969.-

[@StuStevens-rn7rb]

Inspired by Laver to start playing in 63 at age 12 for school. 😊

[@tomloft2000]

two Aussie in the final of the French Open!

[@weyman4317]

See they had an all white clothing rule in 1969 French Open. Roland Garros must have undergone quite a rebuilding programme since then- looked very rural. Love the way the ball boys and girls just lean on the umpire chair- things have got a lot stricter now the multi millionaires have arrived!

[@thadtuiol1717]

Back when tennis was still interesting and Paris was still French

[@peleidolo]

🐐

[@constantapopa7575]

Ce oameni serioși

[@contactdavidfair]

Wow, tennis was profoundly dull back then

[@okaunis]

It was a game then, unlike today where people are just banging the ball back and forth. People are also less educated today so it looks brilliant. Who watching today is thinking spin, trigonometry, etc.Think of basketball that was meant for average heights but now there are taller people taking advantage of rules. People would enjoy chess better today if it were louder and more animated because their brains have shrunk over the years.

[@darthracer777]

Disagree. It was much better back then. It got me interested in playing tennis.

[@perakojot6524]

Technology changed the game immensely. What old ppl that used to watch these kind of matches live don't get is how terrible this is quality-wise compared to today's tennis. If you put an average college player of today in a time machine and transport him to 1969, he would just mop the floor with Laver, Roswell, Gonzales and any player of that generation.

[@salladim96]

@@okaunis haven't seen so much bullshit in a while, thanks for refreshing my memory.

[@okaunis]

@@salladim96 It's a matter of intelligence. Some things are invisible to the less cerebral.