IT IS particularly at the big events that I appreciate the full splendour of “who are the greatest of all time?” as a talking point. I set out for Wimbledon confident that everyone I met would reinforce the choice of three tennis names I pencilled in many months ago when I first had the idea for this series, namely Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Martina Navratilova. It’s so obvious.
After several hours of conversation with experts and novices, Laver was the only name to survive with universal support. On to the shortlist had come Hoad, Lendl, McEnroe, Connors, Sampras, Agassi, Wilander, Graf, Federer, Becker, Court, King and Serena Williams, with three votes (non-expert, I’m afraid) for Fred Perry, Britain’s sole intruder. The only person to go with exactly the same three as myself was a man called Hamish, who had been delegated by Julie Kirkbride, the Shadow Sports Minister, to answer for her because she obviously thought it was a trick question and was scared to give her own view.
Of the experts, the closest to my own choice were Navratilova herself and John Lloyd. I went to Navratilova’s press conference after her impressive Monday win, 31 years after her first Wimbledon appearance. It didn’t take long to see some of the qualities that made her what she was — sharp, intelligent, clearly not one to suffer fools and supremely confident in her own views and abilities. So she laid into the company that organises rip-off accommodation for the players; expressed bewilderment that today’s women did not want to pick her brains about serve-volley tennis; took a swipe at the style of Amélie Mauresmo; and whacked modern coaching — “they teach technique, not strategy”.
She also added to my collection of motivational sporting soundbites: “Do what you love and love what you do and everything else is detail.” Not bad. I nabbed her as she was leaving and asked her to name the three greatest of all-time. She paused. “Laver, No 1,” she said. “Then Steffi (Graf) and me.” Like I say, supremely confident in her own abilities.
“So, two women?” “Why not?” she said, adding that maybe Margaret Court should be in there, too. But no, Laver had to be No 1. “What about Borg?” I asked, hoping she might suddenly decide to dump Graf. “He never won the US (Open). If you want another man, go for (Pete) Sampras. I’d put him ahead of Borg.”
Next stop, the man of the moment, Roger Federer. Lloyd (all-time great choice: Laver, Lew Hoad, Navratilova — two out of three again) told me that if Federer stayed strong, he could end up as the greatest of all time. I asked the Swiss three questions: Who inspired you most as a player? Who are the three greatest tennis players of all time? Who are the three greatest from all sports?
I feared he might think this got in the way of his busy schedule and walk on, but the thing about sporting people is that they tend to like talking about sporting greats. His inspiration: Boris Becker. The greats: Laver “even though I never saw him much”, Borg and Sampras. Greatest from other sports: Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher and — long pause — Navratilova. It was interesting that he saw Navratilova as being from a different sport, but I like Federer because, albeit in an odd way, he had selected the same three as I had.
Then an even shorter interview with Lleyton Hewitt, who named Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg as the players who inspired him, but Laver, “even though I never saw him play”, as the best of all time. I suppose this is the definition of iconic status, when people from today’s generation feel they have to name someone they never saw as the best ever.
To find out what happened to Laver and get a deeper historical perspective, I tracked down Fred Stolle, his fellow Australian and winner of 18 grand-slam titles, who is now a businessman and commentator for Australian television.
He was funny and charming, but threw a spanner in the works when he became the first not to name Laver as the best ever. “I would say Lew Hoad. What is more, I happen to know that if you asked Rodney George Laver, he would say Lew Hoad.” Stolle, now 65, was so full of facts, figures and wisdom that I could feel the confidence in my own selection weakening.
But then I spotted a chink. He had Laver as No 2 and when I suggested Martina as his No 3, he said she certainly took women’s tennis to a new level. But he then hinted at an anti-Australian attitude in the sport and said the women player who does not get the recognition she deserves is Court. I realised that here is a man who is to Australian sport what Neil Kinnock is to Welsh sport. Sorry. Fred, I can’t pick three Aussies.
He kindly filled me in on where they are. “Rocket”, as he called Laver, had a stroke six years ago but has recovered. He stays out of the media, plays a bit of golf and is involved in corporate work through a company run by Stolle, Grand Slam Sports Marketing. Court, he said, is now Reverend Court, with her own church.
He was interesting on what makes a great player. You need the usual — talent, commitment, drive, sacrifice — but you also need “a bit of the mongrel in you”. In today’s game he pointed to Justine Henin-Hardenne as someone who was showing she had it. Kim Clijsters doesn’t. Pat Cash had it. “(John) McEnroe had mountains of it.”
He defined this as the ability to dig deep and develop a hard side — “be a bit of a bastard, I guess”. He suggested a tough upbringing was a prerequisite. “My Dad worked on the railways. Rocket’s Dad came off the farm. Kenny Rosewall’s Dad had a shop. We had no TV, no bikes, no video games and the rest of it. We just played tennis.”
I’d decided on Laver as No 1, as had Lloyd and many others. I’d decided on Navratilova as No 3, as had Lloyd. I’d decided to ignore Hoad on the grounds that I never saw him. With Lloyd having played against Borg, McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, I wanted his judgment on who was the best of those three, and the winner would get my second slot. “They were all geniuses,” he said. “If I had to pick one it would be Connors, because he hated to lose the most.”
But surely, I said, Borg’s record was the most impressive. He nodded, said maybe I had a point. Then Sue Barker wandered by. “Sue, who was the greatest men’s tennis player of all time?” Borg, she said. No wonder the nation loves her. So there we are. It took a long time getting there but my top three tennis players, with thanks to stars past and present, are Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Martina Navratilova.
- Alastair Campbell is in training for the London Triathlon on August 1 in aid of Leukaemia Research. Anyone who wishes to make a donation or join Alastair’s team can call 020-7405 0101 or visit www.alastaircampbell.org.uk
