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Ken Robert Rosewall, born November 2, 1934 in
Sydney, Australia, was a champion tennis player. 
He was born into a family that played tennis and
owned tennis courts. A natural left-hander,
Rosewall's father taught him to play right-handed.
 Perhaps as a result of this unorthodox training
(or in spite of it), he developed a powerful and
very effective backhand but never had anything
more than an accurate but relatively soft serve. 
He was small (only 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) and 135
pounds) and was called "Muscles" by his
fellow-players because of his lack of them.  He
was, however, fast, agile, and tireless, with a
deadly volley.  His sliced backhand was his
strongest shot, and, along with the very different
backhand of the earlier player Don Budge, has
generally been considered one of the two best
backhands of all time.

He was only 18 years old when he won the
Australian Open|Australian Championships and
French Championships men's singles title. In 1956,
partnered with Lew Hoad, he won the doubles Grand
Slam in tennis, taking all four major
championships that year.  For several years in
their youthful careers Rosewall and Hoad were
known as "The Gold-dust Twins."

Rosewall turned professional in 1956 after his
surprise victory over Hoad in the United States
Championships at Forest Hills, thereby depriving
Hoad of winning the Grand Slam.  In a series of
head-to-head matches against the reigning king of
professional tennis, Pancho Gonzales, Rosewall was
badly beaten, 51 matches to 26.

In 1963, with Gonzales in semi-retirement, and Rod
Laver a newly fledged pro not yet at the height of
his career, Rosewall was clearly the best player
in the world on a day-to-day basis.
	
During an outstanding playing career he remained
virtually injury-free, something that helped him
to still win tournaments at the age of 43 and
remain ranked in the top 15 in the world. Although
he was a finalist 4 times at the Wimbledon
championships, it was the one major tournament
that eluded him.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall
of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1980.

Grand Slam Tournament wins:
*Australian Championships:
**singles champion - 1953, 1971 
**doubles champion - 1953, 1956, 1972
*French Championships:
**singles champion - 1953, 1968
** doubles champion - 1956
*Wimbledon Championships:
** doubles champion - 1953, 1956
** singles finalist - 1954, 1956, 1970, 1974
*US Championships
**singles champion - 1956, 1970
** doubles champion - 1956

Professional World Singles Tournament wins,
Wembley Arena|Wembley, England:
*singles champion -- 1957, 1960-63, 1968-69

Adapted from the article
http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.phtml?title=Ken_Rosewa
ll Ken Rosewall, from Wikinfo, licensed under the
GNU Free Documentation License.

*List of male tennis players