Australian tennis champ with instant international celebrity on 2 July 1971 when she won the Women’s single title at Wimbledon the first time by defeating Margaret Court, becoming the fifth youngest winner in history, and making her the world No. 1 tennis player. Since 1975 she has been known by her married name Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
She won Wimbledon the second time in 1980 by beating Chris Evert Lloyd. She is one of the few Australians of Aboriginal origin to achieve world prominence. Playing tennis from the time she was six, her movement on the court was said to “flow.” With her marriage, she changed her name to Goolagong-Cawley.
Evonne, who is part Wirandjuri Aborigine, grew up in the sun-baked town of Barellan, Australia, the third of eight children. Her father, an impoverished auto mechanic and sheep sheerer, found some old tennis balls in the back of a used car he bought, and Evonne became obsessed with them and with tennis, developing an uncanny feel for the game.
Evonne was “discovered” by instructors for the Victor A. Edwards Tennis School at a tennis clinic and groomed to become a superstar by Edwards himself. By the time that the girl was 13, Edwards realized she was a potential world champion and persuaded her parents to appoint him her guardian and allow her to move to Sydney to live with his family. At 17, in her first year of international competition, Evonne won seven of 21 tournaments. The next year, in 1971, she beat Margaret Court to become one of the youngest champions in Wimbledon history. Since then she won nearly every major tournament at least once, establishing herself as one of the top women in her sport.
Despite Goolagong’s natural talent and success, she never quite lived up to her potential. The problem, she agreed, was her wavering concentration. She says that sometimes she relaxed too much. Coach Edwards remarked that she lacked a certain remorselessness; she played because of love of the game, not just to win. Her casual attitude did disconcert her competition.
In 1972, Goolagong played World Team Tennis for the Edwards-coached Pittsburgh Triangles. In 1975 she married Roger Cawley, a former tennis player and a broker on the London Metal Exchange, changing her name at that time. Edwards didn’t approve of the marriage and their partnership ended. But Goolagong-Cawley’s success kept going.
Between 1974 and 1977, she won four Australian Open singles titles. Goolagong-Cawley won the South African Open, the Italian Open and the United States Indoors Championship. She returned to competition tennis in 1978, the year after daughter Kelly Cawley was born, and was ranked No.3 in the world. She won Wimbledon for the second time in 1980 by beating Chris Evert Lloyd.
Goolagong-Cawley retired from professional tennis in 1983, two years after her son, Morgan, was born. She lived in the U.S. until 1991 before returning to Australia. Her autobiography was published in 1993. She has competed on the Virginia Slims Legends tour since 1997.
Goolagong was named Australian of the Year in 1971. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1972 and as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982. Goolagong was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988.
She has been a consultant to the Australian Sports Commission’s indigenous-sports program and involved in other efforts to help Aborigines and children living in the outback.
Goolagong-Cawley’s father died in 1974 in a car crash. Her mother died in 1991.
Link to Wikipedia biography