It designed the greatest two tennis sneakers in the history of humankind, the Rod Laver and the Stan Smith.
The AAMI Park stadium, a tidy and modern ground set in the middle of a cluster of grounds that includes the MCG, the Rod Laver Arena and the old Olympic Stadium by the banks of the Yarra River, is likely to be reasonably well populated when the match kicks off on Sunday evening, local time.
Roddick has only ever beaten Federer in two of their previous 17 meetings -- the most recent success coming in Miami last year -- and he never looked like repeating that in a match played with the Rod Laver Arena roof open following a drop in temperature which brought to an end the extreme heat policy procedures.
In the first point back, Li injured the same ankle and hit her head as she fell, silencing the Rod Laver Arena crowd, which wondered whether it would witness what would have been just the second retirement in a Grand Slam women's final since 1968.
In the first point back, Ms. Li injured the same ankle and hit her head as she fell, silencing the Rod Laver Arena crowd, which wondered whether it would witness what would have been just the second retirement in a Grand Slam women's final since 1968.
Spaniard Nadal looked tentative in the early stages of the night-session match at the Rod Laver Arena and only came to life when 30-year-old opponent Luczak served for the opening set at 5-3.
Water held in the reservoir, upstream of the city on the River Laver at Birkby Nab farm, will gradually drain away downstream.
The Swiss maestro needed only an hour and 39 minutes to overcome the 47th-ranked Romanian 6-2 6-3 6-2 under the Rod Laver Arena lights.
Playing earlier with the roof open, unseeded Suarez Navarro looked shell-shocked in the conditions as Dementieva raced to a 4-0 first-set lead on the Rod Laver Arena.
The Swiss third seed, whose last major title came in Australia in 2010, had been due to play away from the main Rod Laver Arena court for the first time in 52 matches.
Nadal joins Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry in having swept the board, and also becomes the first man since Laver in 1969 to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year.
Ten minutes later the roof over Rod Laver Arena was closed and the struggle was on.
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None of those illustrious names have been able to surpass the efforts of Australian legend Rod Laver, who is the only men's player to have won all four Grand Slams twice in the same year.
"We had a shortlist which included Jimmy Savile but it was decided it would not be nice to use him as a lot of children attend the bonfire and they might start asking their parents questions, " its co-ordinator Charles Laver told the UK Press Association.
Murray, who had not dropped a set in reaching the last four, started as a strong favorite for the night match on Rod Laver Arena, but was second best to the 14th seed in the opening set.
The rivers Skell, Ure and Laver all meet at Ripon and the most recent flood, in 2007, affected more than 40 properties.
If he wins the tournament in Melbourne he will become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.
Williams beat Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3 in the match preceding the Djokovic-Harrison encounter at Rod Laver Arena, which will be the likely venue for her big matchup Friday against Sharapova.
But 16-year-old Robson was out of sorts in the final on Rod Laver Arena, making 31 unforced errors.
From the outset, the crowd at Rod Laver Arena was firmly behind Li, cheering loudly when she was introduced.
However, in the land of Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, John Newcombe, Pat Cash, Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley, that simply is not good enough.
On the line for Djokovic is a fourth straight Slam and becoming the first men's singles player to do so since Rod Laver did it in the 1969 calendar year.
He has now joined the legendary Swede on 11 grand slam titles overall, along with Australian Rod Laver -- who was the last man to hold all four major titles at one time.
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Gonzalez was cheered on by his own band of raucous fans in the day's final match on Rod Laver Arena, and they were sensing a minor upset when the Chilean hit a hot streak to take a two sets to one lead.
The girls' final follows the boys' final on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, with play starting at 0200 GMT.
Federer joins Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi as the only men to have won all four Grand Slam titles and was presented the Coupe des Mousquetaires by Agassi.
And the second man in the exclusive club, England's Bill Bradley, played just one more than that, despite including the first ball dismissal of Australian Frank Laver with a five-wicket haul at Old Trafford in 1889.
Federer heads to the French Open next week, hoping to become the first man to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time since Australia's Rod Laver in 1969.
Looming above, there is only Rod Laver, who polished all four in the 1962 and 1969 calendar, and watched Sunday's final in the arena that bears his name.
Federer may still end up being viewed as the greatest ever, ahead of Sampras, Nadal, Laver, etc.
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