Evonne Goolagong

Guide Note

Evonne Goolagong is a former top seeded Australian professional tennis player. Goolagong won 68 career singles titles, including two wins at Wimbledon.

Fast Facts

1. Full name: Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley
2. Nickname: "Sunshine Supergirl"
3. Born: July 31, 1951
4. Birth place: New South Wales, Australia
5. Handed: Right
6. One of eight children from an Aboriginal (Wiradjuri) family
7. Won 14 Grand Slam titles in the 1970s and early 1980s
8. Married British tennis player Roger Cawley in 1975
9. Retired from professional tennis in 1983
10. Resides in Australia with her husband and their two children
11. Inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988

Career Highlights

Known as the Sunshine Supergirl, Evonne Goolagong was noted for her graceful playing style on the court. Goolagong won thirteen major championships. In 1971, she won the French Singles Championships and in 1971 and 1980 she won Wimbledon. From 1971 - 1976, Goolagong played for Australia's Fed Cup team where her singles record was 21-3. Due to a ranking issue in 1976 with computer archives, Goolagong had ranked number one in the world, but it was never reported. In December 2007, the WTA announced the error and acknowledged Goolagong as the 16th woman in computer ranking history to hold the number one spot twenty-four years after retiring.¹