SAN DIEGO – Mary Laver, wife of tennis great Rod Laver, has died after a long illness. She was 84.
Rod Laver said Tuesday that Mary Laver died Monday morning at their home in Carlsbad in northern San Diego County.
They were married for 46 years and had one son, Rick, who was born three weeks after Laver won the Grand Slam in 1969. The Australian-born Laver is the only person to have won the Grand Slam twice, the first coming in 1962.
"We had a wonderful life together," Laver said. "We did a lot of traveling, a lot of tennis tournaments, tennis events."
The family is planning a private memorial service.
Mary Bensen was born in DeKalb, Ill., on Jan. 23, 1928. Laver said they met at the Jack Kramer Club in the Los Angeles area and were married on June 20, 1966, in San Rafael, Calif.
She had three children from a previous marriage.
The Lavers have lived in San Diego County for 11 years. Rod Laver is 74.
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