Goolagong won seven Grand Slam singles titles in her career, reaching a total of eighteen Grand Slam singles finals.
Background
Her parents, Kenny Goolagong (an itinerant sheep shearer) and Melinda, are members of the Wiradjuri people. She was born in Griffith, New South Wales, and grew up in the small country town of Barellan.
She is the only mother to have won the Wimbledon title since before World War I. Married to Roger Cawley in 1975, she had a daughter in 1977. She won the 1980 Wimbledon title.
Education
In 1967, Vic Edwards, the proprietor of a tennis school in Sydney, was tipped off by two of his assistants and travelled to Barellan to take a look at the young Goolagong and immediately saw her potential. He persuaded Goolagong's parents to allow her 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, and lived in his household.
Career
During the 1970s, she played in seventeen Grand Slam singles 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. The sole blemish in this five-year period was a loss at Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage to Australian Kerry Melville Reid. That year, Goolagong teamed up with Peggy Michel to win the Ladies' Doubles title.
Goolagong reached four consecutive U.S. Open finals, but lost them all. She is the only player in the open era of the event to have lost four consecutive finals, and the only woman to do so in U.S. championships history. Goolagong made seven consecutive finals at the Australian Open, winning four titles in a row, 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 and 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" in the latter stages of matches.
The National Museum of Australia singles trophies, the trophy from her 1974 doubles win, and two racquets used in these tournaments. The museum's collection also includes a signed warm-up jacket, and a dress with a bolero style top, designed by Teddy Tinling.
Goolagong was ranked number one in the world for two weeks in 1976, though it was not reported at the time because incomplete data were used to calculate the rankings. This was discovered in December 2007, 31 years later. She was the 16th woman to hold the top spot .
Goolagong spent some time as the touring professional 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 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. Goolagong also runs an annual "Goolagong National Development Camp", with the aim of facilitating Aboriginal children playing competitive tennis.