Darren Walton: Forget Laver, let's celebrate the Rafa Slam

Rafel Nadal hopes to hold all four grand slam trophies at once. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Let's hope Rod Laver wasn't showing any sour grapes when he claimed before the Australian Open that Rafael Nadal wasn't pursuing the genuine grand slam at Melbourne Park.

In case anyone doesn't know, Nadal needs to win the Open to be the first man since Laver 42 years ago to hold all four grand slam tennis trophies at once.

He is the reigning French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion, having last year achieved that hat-trick - a feat incidentally so rare that no man has even come close to matching it since Laver in 1969.

That means Nadal can on Sunday night become the first man ever to complete a non-calendar-year grand slam.

In Laver's eyes, and others' as well to be fair, apparently that's all it is.

"He's got three under his belt, and he's playing well," Laver said of his fellow left-hander earlier this month.

"There's a good chance he could pull it off. But it's not a grand slam, certainly ... People will say: 'He's going for a grand slam.' And I say: 'No, he's not doing that.' That wasn't the way this whole thing was set up.

"It starts in January and ends in September; starts with the Australian Open and ends with the US Open."

Hmmm, technically Laver is right.

But perhaps it would be best for Laver to stay out of the debate. It's not such a good look.

And was there any need for the great man - widely considered Australia's finest player ever - to come out with this little backhander after 18-year-old Bernard Tomic held a 4-0 second-set lead before falling to Nadal in straight sets in the third round last Saturday night.

"... I think Nadal was a little embarrassed with what Tomic had done to him," the US-based Laver said in LA.

It's most unlikely Nadal would ever attempt to discredit Laver in any way should he complete the so-called "Rafa Slam" on Sunday. It is hard to imagine the humble Spaniard reminding Laver that when he achieved his two calendar-year slams in 1962 as an amateur and in '69 as a pro that he was mostly beating only fellow Australians, Americans or Brits - not facing players from every corner of the globe.

And you can be almost certain Nadal would never bring up the fact that when Laver won his slams he only played on clay and grass, while the Spaniard has also had to master hard courts.

But in my eyes the Rafa Slam would be equally meritorious. Put it this way, if Rafa was to invite me around to his Mallorca mansion for tapas to celebrate the feat, as long as he could line up the required silverware from the Australian, French, Wimbledon and US championships, that'd be good enough for me. If not quite Rod Laver.

- AAP