The son of two tournament lawn tennis players, Laver was introduced early to the game. Considered too small to become a good player, he began vigorous practice as a youth in the Australian outback. Later he came to the attention of the Australian Davis Cup captain, Harry Hopman, and became a member of the Australian Davis Cup squad at the age of 18. He first toured overseas in 1956, and his first outstanding success was winning the Australian doubles championship with Robert Mark and the Wimbledon mixed doubles with Darlene Hard in 1959. He won the Australian singles in 1960. In Wimbledon play, Laver won the men's singles four times (1961–62, 1968-69), the mixed doubles twice (1959–60), and the men's doubles once (1971). In 1962 he added the Italian and German singles titles to his four grand slam victories. From 1959 through 1962 he played for the Australian team in Davis Cup competition; in 1962 he won all three of his matches—two singles and one doubles—in the challenge (final) round.

Laver turned professional in 1963 and dominated the professional game until the introduction of open tournaments in 1968, when he won the first open Wimbledon championship. His championship play continued into the 1970s. In 1971 he became the first professional tennis player to surpass the $1,000,000 mark in career prize money, and he held on to his position as tennis' all-time leading money-winner until 1978. In 1976 the 38-year-old Laver joined the San Diego team in World Team Tennis competition and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.