Gonzales–Laver rivalry

The Gonzales–Laver rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Pancho Gonzales and Rod Laver, widely regarded as two of the greatest tennis players of all time. They played against each other from 1964 to 1970, and Laver led their head-to-head rivalry 43-22.

Analysis

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Jack Kramer writes that Laver was "absolutely unbeatable for a year or two late in the 1960s", but a "careful comparison" could be made between Laver and the somewhat older Gonzales and that Kramer is "positive that Gonzales could have beaten Laver regularly." [1]

Kramer sees as evidence of Gonzales's superiority over Laver the fact that Gonzales defeated Laver in a U.S.$10,000 winner-take-all, five-set match before 15,000 spectators in New York City's Madison Square Garden in January 1970 when Gonzales was age 41 and Laver was still considered the world No. 1 player. However, Gonzales was still a top 10 player when this match occurred, and Laver won this event, beating Gonzales in the semifinals.

Head-to-head tallies

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The following is a breakdown of their documented head-to-head results:

Player 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 Total
  Rod Laver 5 9 2 9 9 7 2 43
  Pancho Gonzales 7 4 4 2 2 0 3 22

List of matches

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No. Date Event Round Surface Winner Score
1 1964-05-21 College Park Pro Championships, Maryland quarter-final Indoor Laver 6–2, 10–8
2 1964-05-29 U.S. Pro Indoor, White Plains, NY quarter-final Indoor Gonzales 1–6, 6–3, 6–3
3 1964-06-03 Masters Pro, Los Angeles Round Robin Hard Laver 10–4
4 1964-06-08 Masters Pro, Los Angeles 3rd Place Hard Gonzales 10–8
5 1964-06-26 Schiltz Pro, Milwaukee Semifinal Outdoor Gonzales 6–4, 6–4
6 1964-07-13 US Pro Championship, Chestnut Hill Final Grass Laver 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4
7 1964-07-16 Pro Tour, Scarborough Tour Gonzales 6–4, 6–2
8 1964-07-21 Golden Racquet, Wembley Semifinal Wood (i) Gonzales 8–5
9 1964-07-23 Knokke Le Zoute Pro Final Clay Gonzales 6–3, 8–6
10 1964-08-15 Cannes Pro Semifinal Wood (i) Gonzales 6–1, 4–6, 7–5
11 1964-08-24 Geneva Pro, Geneva Final Clay Laver 4–6, 6–3, 6–1
12 1964-09-17 Wembley Pro Championship, London Semifinal Wood (i) Laver 6–2, 3–6, 8–6, 6–3
13 1965-01-22 NSW Pro, Sydney Semifinal Grass Gonzales 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
14 1965-01-29 South Australian Pro, Adelaide Semifinal Grass Laver 20–18, 6–4
15 1965-02-06 Western Australian Pro, Perth Final Grass Laver 7–5, 11–9
16 1965-04-20 CBS TV Pro, Dallas Semifinal Clay Gonzales 8–6, 6–3
17 1965-04-25 Oklahoma City Pro, Oklahoma Final Hard Laver 6–3, 6–4
18 1965-05-02 U.S. Pro Indoor, New York Final Carpet (i) Laver 6–3, 6–1
19 1965-05-24 Masters Pro, Los Angeles Final Hard Laver 3–6, 6–3, 7–5
20 1965-05-31 Peacock Gap Pro, San Rafael Final Hard Laver 6–1, 6–4
21 1965-06-06 Seattle Seafirst Greater Pro, Seattle Final Hard Gonzales 6–3, 6–4
22 1965-06-16 Les Stoefen Day, La Jolla Exhibition Hard Laver 1–6, 8–6, 6–4
23 1965-06-20 Tahoe Racquet Club Pro, Lake Tahoe Final Hard Laver 6–3, 2–6, 6–4
24 1965-07-04 Saint Louis Pro 3rd Place Clay Laver 10–8
25 1965-11-21 Balboa Bay Exhibition Hard Gonzales 6–4, 4–6, 6–4
26 1966-03-14 International Match, Los Angeles Round Robin Carpet (i) Laver 10–5
27 1966-03-18 International Match, Chicago Round Robin Carpet (i) Gonzales 7–5
28 1966-03-31 London BBC-2 Trophy, Wembley Final Wood (i) Gonzales 6–3, 5–7, 12–10
29 1966-06-12 Forest Hills Pro Round Robin Grass Laver 31–23
30 1966-12-04 Hollywood Pro Challenge Cup Final Clay Gonzales 6–4, 6–2
31 1966-12-11 Orlando Pro Final Clay Gonzales 6–3, 6–0
32 1967-01-31 Australian Tour, Toowoomba Tour Laver 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
33 1967-02-06 Australian Tour, Rockhampton Tour Laver 6–3, 8–10, 7–5
34 1967-02-08 Australian Tour, Brisbane Tour Laver 6–2, 5–7, 9–7
35 1967-02-19 Australian Tour, Melbourne Tour Grass Gonzales 6–2, 6–4
36 1967-02-22 New Zealand Tour, Dunedin Tour Indoor Laver 6–0, 7–9, 13–11
37 1967-02-24 New Zealand Tour, Wanganui Tour Indoor Laver 6–0, 6–3
38 1967-02-26 New Zealand Tour, Auckland Tour Grass Gonzales 8–6, 4–6, 7–5
39 1967-03-05 U.S. Pro Indoor, New York Final Carpet (i) Laver 7–5, 14–16, 7–5, 6–2
40 1967-03-19 Orlando Pro Final Clay Laver 6–4, 2–6, 6–0
41 1967-03-31 Montreal Pro Semifinal Carpet (i) Laver 10–7
42 1967-08-13 Colonial Pro, Fort Worth Semifinal Hard Laver 9–7, 6–3
43 1968-03-20 São Paulo Pro 4-man RR Laver 7–5, 5–7, 6–4
44 1968-03-24 Buenos Aires Pro Final Clay Laver 6–3, 6–3
45 1968 Bogota Pro 3rd Place Laver 7–5, 6–8, 7–5
46 1968-04-14 Hollywood Pro Challenge Cup 3rd Place Clay Gonzales 10–3
47 1968-04-17 London BBC-2 Trophy Semifinal Wood (i) Laver 12–10
48 1968-04-20 Paris Indoor 3rd place Laver 6–4, 14–12
49 1968-04-22 Toulouse Tour Laver 4–6, 9–7, 7–5
50 1968-06-08 French Open Semifinal Clay Laver 6–3, 6–3, 6–1
51 1968-07-12 French Pro Championship Semifinal Clay Laver 8–6, 6–2, 6–3
52 1968-07-19 Los Angeles NTL Pro Final Carpet (i) Gonzales 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
53 1968-08-12 McAllen, TX One-Night Stand Hard (O) Laver 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
54 1969-02-10 Orlando Pro Semifinal Clay Laver 9–7, 6–2
55 1969-02-27 Portland One-Night Stand Carpet (i) Laver 7–5, 6–8, 8–6
56 1969-02-28 Seattle One-Night Stand Laver 6–3, 8–6
57 1969-03-21 Honolulu One-Night Stand Carpet (i) Laver 2–6, 6–3, 6–4
58 1969-03-22 Honolulu One-Night Stand Carpet (i) Laver 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
59 1969-08-10 Binghamton Pro, New York 4-man RR Clay Laver 6–1, 6–2
60 1969-08-24 Baltimore, Maryland Final Grass Laver 6–3, 3–6, 7–5, 4–6, 8–6
61 1970-01-23 Tennis Champions Classic, New York Round Robin Carpet (i) Gonzales 7–5, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2
62 1970–04-06 Cape Town, South Africa One-Night Stand Gonzales 6–4, 6–4
63 1970-05-17 WCT Howard Hughes Tennis Championships, Las Vegas Final Hard Gonzales 6–1, 7–5, 5–7, 6–3
64 1970-06-02 Tennis Champions Classic, New York Semifinal Carpet (i) Laver 6–3, 6–3, 6–1
65 1970-10-01 WCT Vancouver quarter-final Carpet (i) Laver 6–3, 7–5

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Deford, Frank; Kramer, Jack (1979). The Game: My 40 Years in Tennis. New York: Putnam. ISBN 0-399-12336-9.