Rod Laver turns 80!

Rod Laver became a Central Queensland’s icon, when he became the first man to win the Grand Slam in tennis twice! He achieved these feats, first in 1962 as an amateur tennis player and the second in 1969 when the establishment of Open Tennis came about.

Rod was born on the 9th of August 1938, and has achieved another milestone this year by  reaching his 80th birthday. Rod’s parents, Roy and Melba Laver, lived on Langdale, a 23,000 acre cattle grazing property west of Marlborough. During the time that Rod was growing up on this property, many of the district graziers had a tennis court on their properties and hosted tennis parties on Sundays as their social activity for the week.