Winning at least 12 Grand Slams under the singles category and 16 Grand Slams under the men’s doubles, Roy Stanley Emerson is the only player who holds the all-time record for a male player. Fondly called as “Emmo”, he was the only player who consistently won all the four Grand Slam tournaments. His achievements took place when these major events were only open to amateur players. It was only after awhile that the games were open to professionals to finally join.
The 6-foot Australian 28 Grand Slam title holder was born on November 3, 1936 in Blackbutt, Queensland. He was able to join Ipswich Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School when his family moved and settled in Brisbane. It was also in that new town that Roy was formally trained in tennis.
It was in 1959 that Emerson won his first Grand Slam doubles title together with Neale Fraser. He earned his first Grand Slam singles titles in the 1961 Australian Championships when he defeated Rod Laver in a four set final game. That same year, he again won his second title in the U.S. Championship defeating Laver for the second time.
Roy was believed to train hard. His performance on court showed his readiness in all difficult and physically demanding games. He has an exemplary level of fitness with his serve-and-volley playing style. He also managed to adjust quickly when he plays on slow courts making him the best player in all types of surfaces.
It was in 1963 that he defeated Pierre Darmon and earned his first French Championship singles title. That same year until 1967, he was consecutively winning the Australian singles championships title as well.
In 1964, he gained his final victory in the Wimbledon when Fred Stolle lost a game to him. Out of 115 games, he completed that year with 109 wins. Three of which were all majors except for the French Open which he was unable to take home the victory.
With all the successes Roy achieved until the end of the decade, he was considered to be the all-time favorite and a great player. This was recognized when he was finally inducted to the 1982 International Tennis Hall of Fame.
