Rod Laver's Net Worth (Updated 2024)

What is Rod Laver’s net worth?

Net Worth:	$20 Million
Age:	84
Born:	August 9, 1938
Gender:	Male
Height:	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Country of Origin:	Australia
Source of Wealth:	Professional Tennis Player
Last Updated:	March 8, 2023

Introduction

The famous Australian tennis player, Rod Laver, has consistently shown his prowess on the court, both before and after the open era.

He was trained by the famed teacher, Harry Hopman, and by the age of twenty-one, he had entered numerous amateur tournaments.

Rod displayed incredible talent and tenacity by winning renowned championships, including the Wimbledon, Australian Championships, and Grand Slams.

As of May 2024, Rod Laver’s net worth is estimated to be $20 Million.

Rod Laver Facts

Rod was honored with the Australian Sports Medal and made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1970.
Between 1963 and 1976, Laver had a friendly rivalry with Ken Rosewall.
Laver reduced his tournament schedule in 1972, but he still managed to win five titles that year.
For the second time in history, Laver won all four Grand Slam titles in the same year, in 1969.
In 1957, Laver was the US and Australian Junior champion.

Early Life

Rodney George Laver was born August 9, 1938, in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.

He was born to Roy, who worked as a butcher, and his wife, Melba, and has 3 siblings. Rod showed great promise from a young age and dropped out of school to pursue a tennis career.

In 1959, Rodney participated in the Wimbledon championships and won the mixed doubles match with his American partner Darlene Hard. Alex Olmedo of Peru defeated him in the singles final after a titanic battle saw him ultimately fail to overcome the Peruvian.

The next year, he competed in the Australian Championships, defeating fellow Australian Neale Fraser in the five-set championship match. He competed at Wimbledon in 1961 and beat Chuck McKinley in 3 sets to take the men’s singles title.

Career

Laver won 17 tennis matches and four Grand Slam competitions in 1962, an achievement formerly accomplished by Donnie Budge, an American professional player. Another Australian, Lleyton Hewitt, was able to achieve a singles Grand Slam title in 2001.

The Italian, French, and German Championships stand out as the most notable of these 1962 competitions.

He battled Australian Roy Emerson for the French Championships, which he ultimately won with great difficulty. He performed remarkably well at both the US Championships and Wimbledon that year, losing just a handful of matches.

As a member of the Australian team, Rod helped his country win the Davis Cup in December 1962.

Due to this, he gained recognition as a professional tennis player, joining Lew Hoad, Pancho Gonzales, Ken Rosewall, and Andrés Gimeno in this category.

Laver won sixteen championships the next year, and in 1967, with nineteen tournament victories under his belt, he experienced success once more.

He played in Grand Slam events that year and set a record at Wimbledon by becoming the first person to win the Open Era title. In the championship match, Rodney defeated Australian player Tony Roche in straight sets.

Rod won multiple titles during the course of 1973, including the Davis Cup. He only won six titles the following year, and his world ranking fell to No. 4.

Lavers’s earnings fell far short of modern players like Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi but were still very impressive for the time.

Rod Laver’s Career Earnings

The Open Era started in 1968 when the prohibition against professional tennis players competing in amateur tournaments was repealed.

All players would be permitted to participate in any tournament of their choosing under the Open Era, turning tennis into a full-fledged career.

It is difficult to obtain an estimated overview of Rod Laver’s annual income after retirement from professional tennis as he had numerous sources of income.

He and his wife invested in property as well as stocks and bonds, which ensured a steady flow of dividends and profit.

He also received an income from his tennis camps and personal appearances at tennis tournaments.

Rod Laver was one of the richest tennis players in the world, joining Ivan Lendl, Ilie Nastase, and Andy Murray as extremely wealthy professional.

Rod Laver’s Net Worth Annually

Rod was a five-time winner of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships between 1963 and 1970. He became the number two ranked player in the world in 1963, a position he held for the next 5 years.

During this time, Rod’s wealth grew, in no small part due to his wife’s influence and savvy investment decisions.While it is difficult to gauge exactly how rich he is, Rod Laver’s net worth in 2022 is estimated to be around $20 Million.

He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981 and 1985 respectively.

The Australian government has named him the country’s ‘Living Treasure,’ and he has recently been inducted into the ‘Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Rod wed Mary Shelby Peterson, a divorcee with three children from her prior marriage, in 1966. Tennis players Ken Rosewall, Barry MacKay, Mal Anderson, and Lew Hoad were among the tennis players who were present for the marriage that took place in California.

They had a kid, and they divided their time between many homes in California. He has received numerous honors, including the naming of the “Rod Laver Arena” in Melbourne Park.

Along with Margaret Court, a coworker, he was shown on an Australia Post stamp in 2000.

While being interviewed by ESPN-TV in the US for their SportsCentury 20th Century sports retrospective series on July 27, 1998, Laver experienced a stroke.

After the stroke, he spent a month in the hospital and experienced memory and speech problems, but over the course of the following year, he fully recovered.

Rod is active on his official Twitter account where he recently congratulated Novak Djokovic on his most recent successes on the court.

Awards & Achievements

In 1959, he made his debut on the international circuit by making all three Wimbledon finals and teaming up with Darlene Hard to win the mixed doubles championship.

Here are a few of the most significant events in Rod Laver’s career:

In 2013, Roger Federer referred to Rod Laver as the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport.
Rod won 11 Grand Slam singles titles; three Australian, two French, four Wimbledon and two US Opens.
Rod participated in five Davis Cup victories and won eight Pro Slam championships.
In 1962 and 1969, Rod achieved a calendar-year Grand Slam, the only player ever to do so.
From 1964 until 1970, he was the top-ranked singles player in the world.

The Wembley Championships, in which he defeated Rosewall, a buddy, and the “US Pro,” in which he triumphed against Pancho Gonzales, were among the top competitions Rodney won in 1964.

After winning seventeen tennis championships the following year, Laver rose to the top spot in the global rankings.

How Does Rod Laver Spend His Money?

Rod earned over $1.5 million in total prize money from all tournaments by the time he retired.

He was the first tennis player in history to earn over $1 million solely from tournament winnings, an amount equal to more than $5 million in today’s money.

Rod and his wife prudently invested their money in properties all across California, including his luxury Palm Springs mansion. This is in an area known for some of the most expensive houses in the world due to its fantastic climate.

He also put millions of dollars into an opulent permanent residence in Carlsbad, California, as well as a ranch in Solvang.

His wife was the more business-minded of the two and encouraged Laver to set up franchise tennis camps across California, in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and also in Boca Raton, Florida.

When compared to the richest tennis players in the world, Rod’s wealth places him right in the middle of the pack.

He’s not quite as rich as Andy Roddick but he does beat out Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert by a fair margin.

Highlights

He quit school to focus on a tennis career, which was his preferred sport, to become the world’s number-one-ranked player.

In 1969, Laver completed his Grand Slam by defeating Roche in the US Open final in four sets.

Here are some of the best highlights of Rod Laver’s career:

Rod holds the record for most singles titles in tennis history with 200 overall.
In 2000, Melbourne Park’s main arena, which hosts the Australian Open, was named the Rod Laver Arena.
Rod won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in both 1959 and 1960.
In 2017, the Laver Cup was inaugurated by Roger Federer to pay tribute to Rod.
In 1976, he signed a deal with the tennis league World Team Tennis.

He quickly ascended the ladder and held the number two spot in the world for a while. He eventually rose to the position of the top professional tennis player on the planet.

Between 1963, when he first turned pro, and 1976, when both were semi-retired from the main tour, Laver had a long-running, friendly rivalry with Ken Rosewall.

Favorite Rod Laver Quotes

The equipment in Rod’s earlier days was ancient compared to the high-tech equipment and balls available nowadays.

He recalls having his share of miss-hits as he had to be extremely accurate in hitting the ball in the center of the racquet.

Here are our favorite quotes from Rod Laver:

“When you have the opportunity, you strike.” – Rod Laver
“Each match is a huge effort from a physical point of view. You can only hit so many balls before your elbow or some part of your body is going to say, ‘Hey, don’t do that to me.” – Rod Laver
“I’m usually pretty good in the garden.” – Rod Laver
“Yes, I hit with heavy top-spin, but when you look at the little rackets I played with, the Maxply Dunlop, you had to hit the very center all the time.” – Rod Laver
“Looking back, in comparison, there wasn’t that much that you could do with a wooden racket. ” – Rod Laver

3 Amazing Lessons From Rod Laver

By comparison with today’s standards, tennis in the 50s and 60s was a laid-back affair and not overly taxing. This was ideal for Rod as he was extremely strong and fit and followed an exhaustive regime to stay in top condition.

Rod was heard to remark that in his day, the matches were much less physically demanding than in current events.

Now that you know all about Rod Laver’s net worth, here are some of the best success lessons to learn from Rod Laver:

1. Stay Calm Under Pressure

Rod had played tennis with his brothers, who were very vocal about line calls that didn’t go their way.

When faced with rowdy competitors, he wasn’t fazed and looked on with disinterest as they engaged umpires with hostility.

2. Always Remain Positive

It was important for Rod to always exude confidence and a devil-may-care attitude, even when he was behind on points.

Not only was this a ploy to rattle his opponents, but it also helped to steady his own nerves when under pressure.

3. Never Ever Give Up!

One of Rod’s coaches, Charlie Hollis, drilled into him that under no circumstances was he to ever give up when there was any hope of retrieving a losing match.

This lesson helped Rod to rescue many games that a lesser champion may have lost due to a losing attitude.

Summary

Rod Laver was given the nickname Rocket because of his skill and speed in each match he played.

His tenacity on the court was legendary and his strong mental preparation ensured that he won many tournaments that might have slipped through his fingers.

He was ahead of his time and showed the world what a professional sportsman should be like and won countless awards and honors that left a mark on the tennis world.