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Catching Up With . . .
Evonne Goolagong, tennis champion
April 26, 1976
Posted: Tue May 19, 1998
Evonne
Goolagong
spent two decades away from home, which isn't so bad when
you're winning a couple of Wimbledons, four Australian
Opens and a French Open along the way. But seven years ago,
when she returned to Australia for her mother's funeral,
she experienced an
epiphany on seeing the rituals of her Aborigine people. "I
realized that I had spent too much time away," says
Goolagong, 46, who had left home at 13 to pursue her dream
of a career in tennis. "I wanted to know who my
parents were, who I
was."
So after winning 52 titles in 13 years on the pro tour and
living for eight more years in the U.S. with her husband,
Roger Cawley, daughter, Kelly, 21, and son, Morgan, 17, she
and the rest of the family moved to Noosa, Queensland, in
1991. "My life
became very emotional," says Goolagong, whose '93
autobiography,
Home! The Evonne Goolagong
Story, was an Australian best-seller. "I never knew what it
really meant to be an Aborigine. Then two Aborigine
elders invited me to participate in a ceremony, one where you
looked deep into yourself. It was the first time I had felt
truly
home."
Well, other than when she was playing on grass or clay.
Long-armed and graceful, with laser reflexes,
Goolagong competed when Billie Jean King was still near the top
of her game, Chris Evert was coming into her prime and
Martina Navratilova was
beginning to evolve into the greatest female player. At no other
time had there been so much strength at the top of women's
tennis. Goolagong came out of nowhere to win the 1971
French Open at 19 and then shocked the world again a month
later when she routed
her idol, fellow Australian Margaret Court, 6-4, 6-1, to win
Wimbledon. She spent the rest of the decade trying to
replicate that glory, but despite a good deal of success
and a rivalry with Evert that illuminated the sport, she
never did.
Then in 1980 she made another splash, upsetting Tracy
Austin in the semifinal and Evert in the final to win her
second Wimbledon. "When I was 19, I didn't appreciate
it," she says. "But in '80, I had a child and
nobody expected much. That was amazingly
sweet."
Goolagong retired three years later. She spends most of her
time establishing tennis development programs and as an
advocate for issues involving Aborigines, and she still
competes in three or four events a year on the Virginia
Slims Legends Tour.
"Playing now is great fun, because the pressure isn't
there," Goolagong says. "You win, it's nice. You
lose, and there are other things to worry about. That puts
the game in its
place.
—by Jeff
Pearlman
photographs by Scott Goldsmith; John G. Zimmerman (cover)
Issue date: May 25, 1998
Past Editions of Catching Up With...
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