Not everyone was in his prime. Gonzales, the feisty and powerful American star, was 39. Hoad, a dynamic Australian, was 32 and carrying some extra weight despite a race-the-clock effort to get into shape for what he knew could be a crucial moment for the sport.

But both men still find their way onto many short lists of the greatest players of all time, and their duel on opening day was one of the highlights of the tournament.

“Neither was fit, but both had enormous pride in their reputations as the outstanding players of their generation,” wrote Jenny Hoad, Lew Hoad’s wife, in her autobiography, “My Life With Lew.”

Hoad and Gonzales are the only two of those who played in the event who are no longer alive: Hoad died in 1994 at age 59; Gonzales in 1995, at 67.

Hoad had won the Wimbledon title in 1956 and 1957 before turning professional. Gonzales would never win it. He reached the fourth round in 1949 in his only appearance as an amateur, but he would no doubt have had an excellent chance to win at Wimbledon if the International Lawn Tennis Federation had not voted against open tennis by a narrow margin in 1960, leading to another eight years of delay.

Gonzales won the first set in a hurry, but Hoad shook off the rust and won the next two sets and the match, 3-6, 11-9, 8-6. (Matches until the final were all best of three sets.) Hoad finished off the victory with a lob that landed on the baseline, and Gonzales knocked the ball he had been saving for a second serve out of the stadium.

“That memory is pretty vivid,” Laver said. “All the players watched each other, but that was something special: the two best players in the world in their eras out there playing on the Center Court at Wimbledon. They didn’t play much on grass at that stage, but they were so aware of grass-court tennis and how to play it properly.” Hoad, spent by the effort, lost to Rosewall the next day in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-3.