Evonne Goolagong Cawley

Evonne Goolagong Cawley

Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Australia
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Turned pro	1969
Retired	1983
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	US$1,399,431
Int. Tennis HoF	1988 (member page)
Singles
Career record	704–165
Career titles	68
Highest ranking	1 (April 26, 1976)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977(Dec.))
French Open	W (1971)
Wimbledon	W (1971, 1980)
US Open	F (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
Doubles
Career record	18–16
Career titles	7
Highest ranking	-
Last updated on: 4 February 2007.

Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley, AO, MBE (born 31 July 1951 in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia) is a former World No. 1 Australian female tennis player. She was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s, when she won 14 Grand Slam titles: seven in singles (four Australian Open, two Wimbledon and one French Open), six in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles.

Early life

She was born Evonne Goolagong but became known as Evonne Goolagong Cawley following her marriage to the British metal broker and amateur tennis player Roger Cawley on the 19th June, 1975. She is the third of eight children from an Australian Aboriginal family, being a member of the Wiradjuri people. She grew up in the small country town of Barellan, New South Wales. Her parents, Kenny Goolagong, was an itinerant sheep shearer and mother Melinda. Although Aboriginal people faced widespread discrimination in rural Australia at this time, Evonne was able to play tennis in Barellan from 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. In 1967, the proprietor of a tennis school in Sydney, Vic Edwards, tipped off by two of his assistants, traveled upcountry to take a look at the young Evonne and immediately saw her potential. He convinced her parents to allow Evonne to move to Sydney, where she attended Willoughby Girls High School. Here she completed her School Certificate in 1968 and was at the same time coached by Edwards, living in his household.

Evonne Goolagoog was ranked #1 in the world for 2 weeks in 1976. This was never reported in 1976 because of some computer error. This was discovered in December 2007. She was the 16th woman to hold the spot reported 24 years later.

Grand Slam Success

Goolagong won seven Grand Slam singles titles in her career, reaching a total of eighteen singles finals. During the 1970s, she played in seventeen finals, a period record for any player; man or woman. Between 1973 and 1978, she reached the final of almost every Grand Slam singles event she entered. There was only one exception. After losing to Billie-Jean King at Wimbledon 1973 at the semi final stage, Goolagong only suffered one defeat prior to the final until Wimbledon 1978, when she lost at the semi final stage to Martina Navratilova. The only defeat that prevented her from reaching every final in this five year period was a loss at Wimbledon at the quarter final stage to Australian Kerry Melville Reid. Otherwise, Goolagong would have made eleven straight finals instead of ten. In the year of her early Wimbledon defeat, Goolagong teamed up with Peggy Michel to win the Ladies Doubles title. She is the only mother to have won the Wimbledon title since before World War I. At the US Open, Mrs. Cawley is the only player (man or woman) to lose four consecutive finals at the championships and the only woman to do so in the entire US Championships history. Gooalgong made seven consecutive finals at the Australian Open, winning four, both records for the open era, although she did not compete in the January 1977 event. Despite reaching the final at her first two appearances in 1971 & 1972, after 1973 Goolagong did not compete at the French Open championships for a decade. She returned in 1983 for her final Grand Slam singles appearance. She lost in the last thirty-two to Chris Evert and promptly retired.

Career statistics

Main article: Evonne Goolagong career statistics

Life post tour

Goolagong spent some time as the touring pro at the Hilton Head Racquet Club in South Carolina before returning to Australia.

Goolagong was a member of the Board of the Australian Sports Commission from 1995 to 1997 and since 1997 has held the position of Sports Ambassador to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Goolagong was appointed captain of the Australian Fed Cup team in 2002. In 2003, she was winner for the Oceania region of the International Olympic Committee's 2003 Women and Sports Trophy. Goolagong also runs an annual "Goolagong National Development Camp", with the aim of facilitating Aboriginal children playing competitive tennis.

Awards and recognition

Evonne Goolagong Park, Barellan.

Goolagong was awarded an MBE in 1972 and made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1982. In 1988, Goolagong was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Following her wedding to Roger Cawley in 1975, Goolagong settled in Naples, Florida. After living in the U.S. for eight years, the couple bought a home at Noosa Heads, Queensland, where they settled with their two children. Daughter Kelly Inalla (born 12 May 1977, Beaufort, SC, USA) helps run her tennis camps and son Morgan Kiema Cawley (born 1981) was a National Soccer League player.

Biography

• Home! The Evonne Goolagong Story, Cawley, Evonne Goolagong and Jarrett, Phil (1993), ISBN 0 7318 0381 7

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final