The fact that he was able to win The Grand Slam in 1962, then miss Grand Slam tournaments up until 1969( due to becoming professional), when he again won the Grand Slam, is absolutely phenomonal. Imagine how many Slams he would have won in the space between!

Laver is definately one of top three players, along with Sampras and Borg. A lot of people try to discredit his calendar grand slams by saying that they only spanned two surfaces, but they forget that he pulled off the notoriously difficult French Open-Wimbledon twice, just once less than Borg. 3 of the 4 grand slams being on grass would have meant that more players would have been brought up on this surface. He is also regurlarly won the biggest hard court events in his era, like Boston and Johannesburg.
IMO he definately has the edge over Borg, as they both have won 11 grand slams, but Laver has a blemishless CV while Borg has a gaping hole on his CV accounted for by his failure to win the US Open (Sure he came close but who cares? Close doesn't get you the cigar). Of course Borg retiring early means diddley squat in this argument as it was his own choice and he only be accredited for what he actually achieved, not what he might have done.
With regards to the Sampras and Laver, it is tough. Sampras has three more grand slam titles than Laver but failed to win the French Open, a huge ommision on his CV. Laver has less grand slams but has a blemishless CV. A gap of 3 grand slams is quite large, but Laver won every grand slam at least twice. I personally can't seperate the two of them.
With regards to how many extra grand slams Laver would have won had he not been barred from competing in 21 consecutive grand slams in the mid-60s, it is hard to say. On similar note, we could also hypothesise over whether Laver would have won as many 6 grand slams prior to his ban had the likes of Ken Rosewall and Pancho Gonzales been allowed to compete, or how many more grand slams Sampras, Federer, Becker etc would have won if three of the four grand slams had been on grass during their respective eras. We simply don't know.

Excellent post selesfan, its about time real legends got recognised. For him to have the ability to dominate in his era was phenominal, unlike a certain someone. Once again an outstanding thought on your side.

For Chairman..Some recent Laver's sentences about "a certain someone" we all know:

"He is a great player and has won a lot of grand slams and the way he is compiling the grand slam titles, I think he has got a great chance of being the best ever," Laver said.

"Roger has got too many shots, too much talent in one body. It's hardly fair that one person can do all this: his backhands, his forehands, volleys, serving, his court position, the way he moves around the court, you feel like he is barely touching the ground, and that is the sign of a great champion."

Details HERE

and also (AND THIS IS THE PART I LIKE MOST):

Laver has noted that Federer is only in the middle of his career but is on track to become the sport's best player ever.

"The best way to beat him would be to hit him over the head with a racket," Laver joked in The Sunday Age newspaper.

Laver spoke on the eve of Federer's 10th Grand Slam title, a straight-sets victory over Fernando Gonzalez in the final.

"Roger could win the Grand Slam if he keeps playing the way he is," he said. "And if he does that, it will equate to the two Grand Slams that I won because standards are much higher :yikes: these days."
Details HERE1

Back to your lonely planet (troll) chairman roflmao roflmao

While I think that Federer is below Sampras, Laver and Borg at the minute, IMO if he wins the French Open this June to hold all 4 grand slams simultaneously, he will have a genuine case to be ranked ahead of the three of them and be classed as the GOAT.

AA :bow: :bow: Fully agree Wise man :ok:

In any case all this discussions about how evaluate FED career are just too early: At 25 and if he will be lucky and able to keep planning in an intelligent way he can definitely reach some other very interesting records: If he keeps his promises we will be able to evaluate everything at Wimbledon in 2012 for the Olympics..A nice way to leave Tennis. :rolleyes:

There is some interesting stuff about Laver here, quoted from a book by John Newcombe:

http://tennisworld.typepad.com/thewrap/200...club_feder.html

The funny thing is while Sampras, Borg and Laver all recognised and respected each other as one of the GOAT, I don’t think any of them was ready to render this title to one of the other 2. With Federer’s breaking all records and, I think more importantly with his game (style and genius), it looks like they would not mind that much to have this much coveted title given once and for all to Fed.

We are not there yet of course.

in due time.

but yes for now, rod laver is the goat :bow:

excuse me a moment while I take time out to :clap: you TV - I just love posts like this!

Yes it was a good post :D

I always stop and look at a TV post carefully. They are so bloody good and detailed. He knows his stuff.

Sorry, I've removed the original text ... I didn't mean to post it here...

I loved the "lonely planet" bit roflmao

Jesse, you guys are like clones of each other, repetitive TV post his usual crap and you all applaud. I never completely read his drivel its all the same. You should see the real stuff perfector is posting on the beeb, he is making waves. Personally I dont have time to handle him because I havent even read it, I am sure wise or chet will arrive soon and take care of business. :D

It's a bit rich to call TV repetitive, and then point people to the Groundhog Day that is Perfector's posting record on the Beeb...

Just as I was beginning to respect you chairman. You look like you are heading back to your beeb days....

Chairman was one of the useless and boring 'copy and paste' trolls on the Beeb. He wasn't capable of posting anything remotely original on there and stuck to brown nosing other people's threads. The only good WUMS were Dr_Sincere and Wise_Analyst. Their posts were very entertaining I must say and superbly crafted to maximum effect. It was hilarious watching the same dimwits continually taking the bait, like that incredibly stupid Hero guy.

roflmao roflmao I never posed as an originator anyway, I simply look up to the most respected threads as you have mentioned wise and the good doctor, perfector, Alison etc and now selesfan. And yes you are right, I brown nose them all the time. Its definately better than brown nosing robotic TV, he is the original troll.

purrrllleeeeeeaaaassssssseeeeee......... WE'RE the clones??? All applauding TV? Yes lovey, thats exactly it... and you hun, well, you've never just followed the same characters around with the same lovesick messages at all have you???

And how come, if you've never read TVs posts all the way through, you can say that they are the same drivel?? He could put wildly different contrasting views down in every post and you wouldnt know....

TV obviously puts a lot of thought and research into his posts. :huh:

Im just wondering who Jesse is :shrug:

:D :D Now Now SW19 You know that chairman is referring to Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazzard....

roflmao roflmao

Of course how I did not see this is beyond me :doh:

Surely not the GOAT ? ;)

Oh dear, Pebs has also joined the robot TV club.

SW19, Jesse is like Jesus but I dont like to blaspheme so I never use the full name. :ok:

roflmao roflmao roflmao This is the first time I have heard anyone call hero stupid. Well, he does react the same way TV and I have said they are both preys.

TV may have reacted to the WUM's a lot but the guy is intelligent and has decent tennis knowledge. He knows where all the quotes and important stats are to back up all he says, so you have to respect that.

TV is a great ATP poster on this board :ok: He always brings up interesting stats, is never provocative and moreover is a very modest Fed fan, like the man himself, which is how it should be :)

Hero on the other hand was certainly an idiot roflmao and it's a bit of an insult to compare TV to him.

I agree. TV is one of the best posters I have been fortunate enough to discuss tennis matters with. His posts are fantastic and always a pleasure to read. His manners are always impeccable as well. He knows his tennis but doesn't boast or claim to be superior to people whose knowledge of the game isn't as advanced.
Hero on the other hand is a complete retard. What more can be said for a person who claimed that Davydenko was as good as Agassi, that Agassi would win a maximum of 2-3 grand slams if playing in this era, and embark on a lengthy discussion about Ivan Lendl pretending he knew what he was on about despite only having watched a single clip of him on YouTube (he had to ask what Lendl's backhand was like halfway into the thread). I also seem to recall him saying that Ljubicic was better than Ivanisevic and Krajicek roflmao.

TV and I started posting round about the same time on BBC and I must say that he is a great poster to the maximum full of facts.

Whilst he chooses the more subtle approach,I have always chosen the direct all out sarcastic approach which makes both our styles so different,kinda like ying and yang.But I too possess the tennis knowledge but not in depth as TV.

He is my friend and it will stay that way and his post will always be high priority for me!