Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Australian tennis player Former World No. 1, Australian tennis player was one of the leading players in the world in the 1970s and early 1980s , a three-time winner of the Australian Open , two of Wimbledon and one of Roland Garros .
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Sports career
- 2 Personal Life
- 2 Tributes
- 3 Acknowledgments
- 4 Sources
Biographical synthesis
He was born in Griffith , New South Wales on July 31 , 1951 , in Australia . She is the third of eight children born to an Australian Aboriginal family . Her parents, Kenny Goolagong and Melinda, are members of the Wiradjuri people.
He grew up in the small rural town of Barellan . Although Aboriginals face widespread discrimination in rural Australia at this time, Goolagong was able to play tennis at Barellan since childhood thanks to a kindly resident, Bill Kurtzman , who saw her peering through the fence at the local courts. and encouraged her to come in and play.
Sports career
- First steps
In 1967 , Vic Edwards, the head of the school of tennis in Sydney , was warned by two of his assistants and traveled to Barellan to take a look at the young Goolagong and immediately saw his potential. He convinced Goolagong’s parents to move to Sydney, where he attended Willoughby Girls High School . Here, he completed his transcript in 1968 .
- Development as an athlete
He won seven Grand Slam titles in his career, reaching a total of eighteen individual finals. During the 1970s , he played in seventeen individual Grand Slam finals, a period record for any player, male or female. Between 1973 and 1978 , he reached the finals of almost all individual events. There was only one exception, after losing to Billie-Jean King at Wimbledon 1973 in the semi-final stage, Goolagong only suffered one defeat before the Wimbledon final until 1978 , when he lost in the semi-final to Martina Navratilova .
The only blemish in this five-year span was a Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Australian Kerry Reid . That year, Goolagong teamed up with Peggy Michel to win the Ladies’ Doubles title, winning 14 Grand Slam titles in: seven in singles, six in women’s doubles, and one in mixed doubles. His career win-loss percentage was 81.01%. His interpretation of won and lost in all Grand Slam tournaments was 82.09% in the Open France , 84.21% in Wimbledon, 83.33% in the Open USA ., 81.25 %, and at the Australian Open, 80.39%.
Won the 1980 Wimbledon title . He reached four consecutive finals at the US Open, but lost all of them. In the open era of the event she is the only player to have lost four consecutive finals, and the only woman to do so in US championship history.Goolagong made seven consecutive finals at the Australian Open, winning four consecutive titles. , both open-era records, even though he did not compete in the January 1977 event. Despite reaching the final in his first two appearances in 1971 and 1972 , after 1973 Goolagong did not compete in the French Open Championship for a decade. He returned in 1983for his last Grand Slam. He lost in the last thirty-two to Chris Evert and did not compete in the other Grand Slam events.
His last appearance at the Grand Slam level came at the ensuing Wimbledon Championship in 1983, when Sue Barker teamed up to a defeated first round in the doubles match, having retired from singles competition earlier.
- Other activities
Goolagong spent some time on the pro tour at the Hilton Head Racquet Club in South Carolina before returning to Australia . He was a member of the Board of the Australian Sports Commission from 1995 to 1997 and since 1997 has served as a sports ambassador for Aboriginal and Island communities. She was named captain of the Australian Federation Cup team in 2002 . In 2003, was winner of the 2003 Oceania Region Women’s International Olympic Committee and Sports Trophy; it also maintains a camp (“Goolagong National Development Camp”) which operates annually with the goal of Aboriginal children playing sports tennis.
Personal life
She married Roger Cawley on June 19 , 1975 and they had a daughter in 1977 . By whose surname she was known since then, motherhood did not prevent her from continuing to compete at the highest level. She is the only mother who has won the title of Wimbledon before World War First . He lived in Naples , Florida ; After living in the United States for 8 years, the couple bought a house in Noosa Heads , Queensland , where they settled with their two children. Her daughter Kelly helps maintain her tennis courts, and his son Morgan Alfaro Cawley was a soccer player in the National League.
Tributes
The Australian National Museum houses the Evonne Goolagong Cawley Collection of Souvenirs. This includes Evonne’s 1971 and 1980 Wimbledon singles trophies, her 1974 doubles victory trophy, and two rackets used in these tournaments. The museum’s collection also includes a signed warm-up jacket, and a dress with a bolero-style top, designed by Teddy Tinling in the early 1970s .
Goolagong was ranked number one in the world for two weeks in 1976 , although it was not reported at the time as incomplete data was used to calculate the ranking. This was discovered in December 2007 , 31 years later. She was the 16th woman to hold the top spot.
Recognitions
Australian accolade in 1971 , awarded an MBE in 1972 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982 .
