Australian tennis arena named in honour of Ken Rosewall

Australian tennis legends on Tuesday welcomed the naming of Sydney's 2000 Olympics tennis venue in honour of eight-time Grand Slam champion Ken Rosewall.

Tennis New South Wales announced the 10,000-seat centre-court stadium at Sydney Olympic Park would now be known as the "Ken Rosewall Arena."

"Ken Rosewall is one of Australia's sporting legends and without question one of the greatest tennis players of all time," Tennis New South Wales president Stephen Healy said.

Former Australian tennis greats welcomed the honour for Rosewall, who was playing in Grand Slam finals from the 1950s until his retirement from the sport in the 1970s.

"He was a great player and I enjoyed any match we played," said fellow Australian legend Rod Laver, the only player to win the Grand Slam of the four majors twice, in 1962 and 1969.

"He was highly competitive. He was unbelievable, not necessarily just against me but threatening everyone with a win," said Laver, whose name adorns the Melbourne arena which hosts the Australian Open every January.

"We were at a good time in tennis and Ken is right up there as among the best ever." John Newcombe, a three-time Wimbledon champion, described Rosewall as "probably the most accurate hitter of the ball that has ever been - the ball lands where he wants it to land."

"He was one of the great volleyers and extremely quick around the court and pound for pound the toughest that I ever had the privilege to play against," he said.

Rosewall reached four Wimbledon finals during his career, with a 20-year gap between the first and last (1954 and 1974), and won four Australian titles, two French titles and two US titles.

The former champion, who turned 74 last month, said he was deeply moved by the honour.

"It truly is an honour to have my name aligned to this first class tennis facility and I really feel humbled by it," Rosewall said.

SYDNEY, Tuesday, AFP