10 all-time Tennis greats and the trophies missing from their cabinets

#2. Rod Laver- World Tour Finals

The Australian legend ended as the runner-up at the inaugural World Tour Finals

One of the greatest players to have ever set foot on a tennis court, Rod Laver was undoubtedly the greatest player of his time. Laver was known for his all-court play and his accurate left-handed serve with a number of critics describing him as “technically faultless”.

Laver won a total of 52 ATP titles throughout his career (200 overall) that included 11 Grand Slam titles. Six of his eleven Grand Slams were won before he turned professional.

The Australian won all four majors, having won three Australian open titles in 1960, 1962, and 1969, two French Open titles in 1962 and 1969, four Wimbledon titles in 1961, 1962, 1968, and 1969, and two US Open titles in 1962 and 1969. He completed a Career Slam on two occasions in 1962 and 1969.

However, the one big prize which Laver never won was the World Tour Finals with his first and only appearance at the tournament being a runner-up performance at the inaugural tournament in 1970 when it was known as the Pepsi-Cola Masters.

Back then, the tournament was only a round robin tournament where the top six ranked players would participate and the player at the top of the standings would be adjudged the winner. Alongside Laver, the other competitors were Stan Smith, Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe, Zeljko Franulovic and Jan Kodes.

Laver won four of the five matches with his only defeat coming against Stan Smith. At the end of the round robin, both Laver and Smith had four wins and a defeat and had a 9-4 aggregate on the number of sets won and lost. However, Smith was adjudged the winner by virtue of having beaten Laver and Laver ended the tournament as the runner-up.