ITF

ITFWorld // SPRING 2018 11 wooden-racket days, just as it is for the current player she adores and has helped to mentor: 21-year-old indigenous talent Ashleigh Barty. The lovers of grass courts and fishing share a special bond, with Goolagong Cawley declaring that watching her fellow Queensland resident makes her want to play again. Barty, meanwhile, wishes she could have seen the former No. 1 compete, having long been educated about her silky style and groundbreaking achievements. "She's an absolute legend of Australian tennis, and tennis in general, and we're extremely fortunate to have someone like Evonne in Australia, and particularly an indigenous female role model," says Barty, the 2011 junior Wimbledon champion. "It's important for young kids to learn about indigenous Australian sporting heroes, and I think for a lot of young boys it's footballers, and for me in tennis it was Evonne – and will always be. She's set the benchmark both on and off the court with the way she conducts herself, the way she gives back. She truly is amazing." The Evonne Goolagong Foundation is in its 14th year. With Australian federal government support, it runs nationwide tennis camps and programmes for indigenous children aged between 5 and 15 to promote and help provide health, education and employment. So far the EGF has awarded almost 70 scholarships. Children must stay in school to be eligible, and it is not necessarily the best players who are chosen but the ones who listen, try, and are keenest to help themselves. Which fits perfectly with 'Dream, Believe, Learn, Achieve,' the philosophy by which the organisation's proud chairperson has always lived. Goolagong Cawley credits her late mother, Linda, for instilling the on-court serenity that was as much a trademark as that gorgeous backhand. "I noticed when I was playing that even if I lost it didn't matter, I've always got another match, because I was so lucky and happy to be there," she muses. "I found joy every time I played, so I never worried about anything. I just thought, 'Well, I'll have another lovely day later.'" ■ Despite being most often asked about her 1980 achievement of becoming just the fourth mother to triumph at Wimbledon, Goolagong Cawley considers it "pretty well level" with the first, nine years earlier, on that precious court of her childhood imaginings. "They were both thrilling, in different ways," she recalls. "My first win at Wimbledon was achieving my dream. And that gave me lots of happiness and everything else, and was just something that I had the feeling I was capable of doing. But I think (after having) Kelly it was pure joy." Curiously, despite having always been told she was a graceful player in the mould of the Brazilian star Maria Bueno, the former No. 1 said it was only about three years ago that she watched a video of herself for the first time. "It didn't seem like me. It just seemed really strange to watch myself. But when I did, I thought, 'Oh, I wasn't a bad player!'" she laughs. "And now there are some matches that I'd really like to see if I find the time – (like) when I first won Wimbledon against Margaret Court in 1971." The 1968 finalist, Australian Judy Tegart Dalton, remembers her friend as not just gentle and free-flowing, with hidden competitive depths, but as purely instinctive on the court. "I don't think she had any idea of how she played. I can remember Chris Evert said after one match that she didn't think Evonne knew where she would hit her backhand, but it was always a great shot." Her signature stroke, the crosscourt backhand, was also Goolagong Cawley's favourite, and today when she watches Roger Federer turn his shoulder and roll a topspin gem cross court, she senses how good it must feel. Slice was also part of her repertoire back in those small-headed Winning 1971 Wimbledon Receiving the trophy at the Dallas tournament in 1978 with daughter Kelly in her arms Evonne in action in 1979 at the US Open, where she was runner-up four times

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