Laver would welcome Djokovic to calendar Grand Slam ‘club’
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) — “Rocket” Rod Laver will be at the U.S. Open to welcome Novak Djokovic into a remarkably exclusive club if the 34-year-old from Serbia manages to complete the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis in 52 years. The 83-year-old Laver says he’d be happy to shake Djokovic’s hand if he accomplishes the greatest feat in tennis. No man has won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in the same year since the slightly built, red-headed Australian did it in 1969. That was so long ago that the Beatles were just about to release “Abbey Road” and America was still reveling in Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk.