Sports Then and Now

Fifty years before Ashleigh Barty claimed her first Wimbledon Championship, another Australian woman claimed the Wimbledon Women’s Singles title on her way to a Hall of Fame career.

The path to tennis greatness was a unique one for Evonne Goolagong Cawley. The daughter of an itinerant sheep shearer, Goolagong Cawley was the third of eight children in an Australian Aboriginal family. Though Aboriginal people faced significant discrimination during that era, Goolagong Cawley was able to play tennis from a young age due to the generosity and support of numerous people within Australia.

She emerged on the international tennis stage as a 19-year-old in 1971 as she reached the finals of the Australian Open and then won the French Open and Wimbledon titles. She remains the only person to win the French Open women’s title in her first time playing in the tournament.

In 1972, she reached the finals of the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, but did not claim any of the titles. She also played the U.S. Open for the first time in 1972 and reached the third round.

Much has happened since Rafael Nadal defeated a tearful Roger Federer in the 2009 Australian Open Final.

If you didn’t know better, you might think the Australian Open being shown these days on ESPN was a replay from 2007, not the 2017 version. With Venus and Serena Williams set to meet in the women’s final and  Roger Federer facing Rafael Nadal in the men’s final, the tournament definitely feels like Old-Timers Day.

It is hard to say which performance is the most surprising.

Given her constant physical battle with Sjögrens Syndrome, you can perhaps give the nod for most impressive performance to Venus Williams. Though she did not have to face any of the top women’s players in the draw during her run to the finals, it is still impressive that the 36-year-old Venus is back in a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2009 and the first at a tournament other than Wimbledon since reaching the Australian Open final in 2003.

The only performance so far during the Australian Open that isn’t much of a surprise is that of second seed Serena Williams. Shooting for her 23rd Grand Slam title and seventh Australian Open crown, Serena has again been dominant and will be facing her older sister in a grand slam final for the ninth time.

Serena has claimed six of the previous eight finals matchups, including a three-set victory in the 2003 Australian Open. The last time the two met in a Grand Slam Final was the 2009 Wimbledon final when Serena won in straight sets. Read the rest of this entry →

Novak Djokovic claimed his 11th grand slam title and sixth Australian Open.

Since the turn of the 21st Century, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won a combined total of 31 grand slam singles titles to rank first and tied for second all-time. They seemingly have been the dominant faces of the men’s tennis world, yet, at the end of the day it now looks possible that they both could be overtaken by another player who once lived in their shadow.

With his three-set victory over Andy Murray in the finals of the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic claimed his third straight major championship and has now won 10 major titles since 2011 and 11 overall.

Nearing his 29th birthday, Djokovic is now tied with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver for fifth all-time in major championships. He has won five of the last seven and many think he could become the first men’s player since Laver in 1969 (the first year of the open era) to win all four major championships in the same year.

Even if he doesn’t claim all four this year, Djokovic can become the first men’s player since Laver to hold all four major titles at the same time if he can win the French Open in June.

He nearly won the grand slam last year as it was only a four-set loss to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open Finals that kept him from the amazing feat in 2015.

If his dominating victory over Murray is any indication, Djokovic is a man at the peak of his game ready for the challenge associated with achieving new heights. Read the rest of this entry →

Andrea Petkovic will be unable to compete in the Australian Open due to a stress fracture to her lower back.

With the first round of the Australian Open proper now just days away from getting underway the last thing the women’s draw needed was the withdrawal of another popular, highly ranked player.

Unfortunately for the Australian tennis fans preparing to hit Melbourne for the first Grand Slam of the new season, that’s exactly what has happened, with world number 10 and great German tennis hope Andrea Petkovic forced to pull out of the event after suffering a stress fracture to her lower back. Anyone Betting on Australian Open Tennis can remove her from the equation.

The news will come as a devastating blow to a woman just starting to make her mark in women’s tennis after a run of Grand Slam quarter-final appearances last year. Petkovic ended 2011 as the first woman of German nationality to finish a season in the top 10 since Steffi Graf dominated the tennis scene back in the late 1990s and was optimistic that the fading fortunes of the likes of Venus and Serena Williams would allow her and another few young talents on the WTA circuit to break into the big time. Those following the online tennis betting should remember this.

The player stated after the news broke that she is “really disappointed” because she loves Australia, but is already “looking forward to coming back to Australia” in 2013.

Should Petkovic use the next six to eight weeks of rest and recovery back home in Germany to refocus and come back even stronger both mentally and physically, 2012 could still turn out to be a great year for the 24-year-old, but there’s no doubt that her quest for her maiden Grand Slam title has now been made that little bit more difficult.

Caroline Wozniacki is flying high so far at the 2011 Australian Open.

There are clear favorites in each of the Australian Open women’s quarterfinals. It is hard to make strong winning cases for any of the underdogs and punters should be confident in backing the top three seeds to reach the last four, as they did in the last slam at the US Open.

Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters were two of those three who progressed into the semifinals at Flushing Meadows and they are deservedly strong favorites against Francesca Schiavone and Agnieszka Radwanksa.

Schiavone surely left too much on court in her record-breaking win over Svetlana Kuznetsova in round four, especially as Wozniacki has gradually improved in this event. She peaked too early in New York but seems to be coping with the pressure of top seeding better in Melbourne.

Clijsters was not at her dominant best against Ekaterina Makarova in round four, making 15 unforced errors in a first set that was decided by a tie break. Her inexperienced opponent fell away in the second set, but the number three seed is vulnerable against the top players if she delivers the same level of performance in the latter rounds. Read the rest of this entry →



Serena Williams was the last Australian Open champ in 2010.

Most of the ladies crowned as champions of the Australian Open hailed primarily from Australia back in the early days of this prestigious tennis tournament.

Distance from European capitals and the United States kept the Australian Open a happening mainly for locals, although there were foreign winners from time to time.

Overall Australians have won 43 Australian Open titles, 33 during the Amateur Era and 10 during the Open Era. Their first championship came in 1922 and their last in 1978.

The Aussies are all hoping Samantha Stosur can add to their total by winning the championship in 2011. The time is now for a  native to win the trophy––it has been 33 years, after all.

With defending champion Serena Williams not playing in 2011 because of injury, this year is wide open for the ladies as they look to crown a new champion.

Female champions from the United States are second having won 22 Australian Open titles, 7 in the Amateur Era and 15 during the Open Era.

Half of the ladies in this Top Ten list are logically from Australia and many of them represent titles won during the Amateur Era which began back in 1922.

But all have outstanding results in the “Happy” Slam now held annually in Melbourne.

10. Australian Joan Hartigan Bathurst: Won in 1933, 1934, 1936 – 3 Finals, 3 Wins, 2 Consecutively.

Joan Hartigan Bathurst won three Australian Open titles in her career.

Australian Joan Hartigan-Bathurst played her first Australian Open Championship in 1931 and her last one in 1947. She won three championships during her long career.

Traveling outside of Australia, Hartigan-Bathurst also made the semifinals at Wimbledon twice. She never, however, traveled to play in the United States championships.

During her years playing on tennis courts around the world, Hartigan-Bathurst won three Australian Open titles, made the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals four times.

In 1933 Hartigan-Bathurst defeated Coral Buttsworth to win her first Australian Open title 6-4, 6-3.

The Aussie repeated as champion the following year defeating Margaret Molesworth 6-1, 6-4 in 1934.

Her next Australian Open Championship came in 1936 when Hartigan-Bathurst won over fellow Aussie Nancy Wynn Bolton 6-4, 6-4.

Overall she played in 10 Australian Open Championships, winning three times. Her win loss record was 48-7 giving Hartigan Bathurst a winning percentage of 87.27.

Read the rest of this entry →