By Nick Georgandis
November 3: Austrailan legend Roy Emerson turns 76. The native of Blackbutt, Queensland, won 28 Grand Slams in his career, the most of any man, and is the only male player to win the career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles - racking up 12 singles and 16 doubles majors. He was elected into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982. Emerson won at least one Grand Slam title in singles every year from 1961-1967 except 1962, and at least one in doubles from 1959-1967, then added one more apeice in 1969 and 1971. Chief among his accomplishments is winning the Australian Open singlees title six times between 1961-1967. His only misstep there was in 1962, when he lost the final to fellow Australian legend Rod Laver. His best season was 1964, when he won Australia, WImbledon and the US Open, had a 55-match win streak and finished the year 109-6. His most enduring record, that neither Borg nor Sampras nor Federer was able to break - is winning 10 straight Grand Slam finals, remarkably the last 10 of his career. Later in his career, Emerson served as a player/coach for World Team Tennis' Boston Lobsters.
November 6: Former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic is 25. Ivanovic is currently ranked No. 12. She has 11 career titles and has also reached the 2008 Australian Open final and the 2007 Wimbledon semifinals. She beat Dinara Safina for her only Grand Slam title and became the No. 1 player in the world that August 18. Ivanovic is widely considered one of the most beautiful female athletes in the world, appearing on many magazine covers outside of the tennis genre.
November 7: Current world No. 16 Alexandr Dolgopolov turns 24. Dolgopolov rose to prominence at the 2011 Australian Open when he reached the quarterfinals by upsetting No. 4 Robin Soderling in the fourth round. His father Oleksandar also played on the ATP tour. Dolgopolov has two career titles and has been ranked as high as No. 13 in the world.
(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)