Prior to the beginning of the 2025 Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam, there was a lot going on around the country. A bushfire, started by lightning, raged in The Grampians National Park. Melbourne, 273 kilometers away, was experiencing dramatic weather swings with daytime temperatures ranging from 18 to 40° Celsius. Several nights dropped to 9 Celsius which added to the “What will I wear” quandary.
With all that was taking place before the championships, first played in 1905, a better understanding of its uniqueness can be found in the following remembrances…
After Don Budge’s victory in 1938 an American didn’t win the Men’s Singles until Dick Savitt in 1951 (the same year he won The Championships defeating Ken McGregor 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 after having downed McGregor 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the Australian title round).
Dorothy (“Dodo”) Bundy’s 1938 Women’s Singles win marked the first non-Australian singles sweep in tournament history. That year, Bundy and Dorothy Workman were Women’s Doubles finalists and she and Budge were quarterfinalists to John Bromwich and Margaret Wilson who were the Mixed Doubles titlists.
Bundy was from a family of “Fame…” Her mother May Sutton was the first American to win the Ladies title at The Championships in 1905 (and she repeated in ’07). Her father Tom Bundy teamed with Maurice McLoughlin to take the US National Men’s Doubles 1912-14.
During her career, Bundy Cheney won an unfathomable 394 US national championships… The last at the age of 95 taking the National Women’s 90 Hard Court Doubles. In 2004, “Dodo” joined May, who was honored in 1956, as an International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee.
Keith Gledhill and Ellsworth Vines, a Santa Barbara-Los Angeles partnership, who attended Stanford and USC respectively, were the first Americans to win the Australian Men’s Doubles in 1933… the same year Gledhill was a 6-2, 5-7, 3-6, 2-6 Men’s Singles finalist to Jack Crawford. Six months earlier, Gledhill and Vines, the USLTA 1929 Boys’ National Doubles champions, won the US National Men’s Doubles.
Vines won the US National Men’s Singles in 1931 and ’32, the same year he won the Gentlemen’s Singles at The Championships.
Another US tandem didn’t win the Australian Men’s Doubles again until Vic Seixas and Tony Trabert triumphed in 1955.
Though their credentials earned Australian Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis Hall of Fame recognition, Thelma Coyne Long and Nancye Wynne Bolton’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed formidability at home is abacus tally defying.
They began their Women’s Doubles trophy collecting in 1936 and ran off five in a row (In 1938, seeded No. 2 they defeated the top seeds, Bundy and Workman 9-7, 6-4 in the final.)
Wynne was the Women’s Singles winner in 1937 and as Wynne Bolton in 1940, (defeating her doubles partner in three sets), the same year she teamed with Colin Long for Mixed honors.
Following WWII, they played “Count ‘Em…” as Wynne Bolton scored a triple-triple taking the Women’s Singles, the Doubles with Coyne Long and the Mixed with Colin Long in 1947… and they were ’48 and ’49 Doubles champions. Wynne Bolton was the Women’s champion in ’46, ’48, and (defeating Coyne Long) in 1951.
Coyne Long earned her first Women’s Singles title in 1952 and followed it with a triumph in ’54…when she defeated Jenny Staley, who would marry Lew Hoad at St. Mary’s Church, Wimbledon, prior to The Championships in 1955.
They continued “Doubling…” taking the Women’s title in 1951 and ’52 and Coyne Long was the Mixed champion both of those years with George Worthingon.
Coyne Long was also the Mixed titlist with Rex Hartwig in 1954, and with Worthingon in ’55. She capped her Australian exploits with Mary Bevis Hawton taking the Women’s Doubles in 1956 and ’58.
Their combined Australian trophy total was a “telling…” 28.
John Bromwich and Adrian Quist were Men’s Doubles champions from 1938 through ’40 when Quist also won the singles. After WWII, Bromwich was the 1946 Singles champion and with Quist won the doubles five years consecutively (’46-’50).
Adding to the “Quist Count” he won his inaugural Men’s Singles in 1936 and the Doubles with Don Turnbull in ’36 and ’37.
(Working for Dunlop, Quist held a variety of executive positions. In 1939, he designed the Dunlop Volley. The tennis shoe became a “Classic…” and was worn by a collection of Australian stars. Mark Edmondson wore the Volley during his 1976 Men’s Singles championship run.
On a personal note, in the 1960s I wore the tennis shoe because it had a revolutionary padded tongue, an eye-catching green interior and green and gold striping… and in those days, was “Cool…”
Thanks to Quest’s efforts Lew Hoad and Rod Laver became members of the Dunlop team as youngsters.
In addition, his candid The Sydney Morning Herald columns drew praise and ire…)
Bromwich and Quist were International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees in 1984; Bromwich, a left-hander who like his pioneering countryman Vivan McGrath hit a two-hand backhand, was recognized by the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame the same year and Quist was honored in 1998.
Mark Edmonson was a four-time Men’s Doubles titlist scoring back-to-back wins with Kim Warwick in 1980 and ’81 and then with Paul McNamee in 1983 and Sherwood Stewart in ’84.
But he is best known for being the last Australian to win the Men’s Singles defeating John Newcombe, the defending champion, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 in 1975.
Mary Carter Reitano is 90 and became a member of the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2021. She received accolades for being the Women’s titlist in 1956 and in ‘59, the year before Margaret Smith, with whom she won the Women’s Doubles in 1961, began a seven year reign as singles champion from 1960-66.
At the 1965 tournament, Smith captured three events taking the Singles, Women’s Doubles with Lesley Turner, and because of rain, shared the Mixed Doubles with partner John Newcombe, Owen Davidson and Robyn Ebbern.
Ebbern had a “Regular…” presence at the Australian Championships having been a Women’s Singles semifinalist from 1961 to ’64. In ’62 and ’63, she and Smith were the Women’s Doubles winners…And in ’63 they were the US National Women’s Doubles champions and Roland Garros finalists. She reached the Australian Women’s Doubles final with Smith in 1964 and with Billie Jean Moffitt in ’65. Closing out her career Slam record, Ebbern was a Mixed Doubles finalist with Bill Bowrey at the 1966 event.
It is hard to believe but only a devoted tournament statistician would credit Jan Lehane with being four-time Women’s Singles finalist to Smith from 1960 to ’63, taking the Mixed Doubles in back-to-back years with Trevor Fancutt of South Africa in 1960 and with Bob Hewitt in 1961… or having been a Women’s Doubles finalist with Mary Bevis Hawton in 1961 and with Lesley Turner in ’63… and a Mixed Doubles finalist with Mike Sangster of Great Britain in ’64.
Because of the other “Name” Australians playing at the same time, Bob Mark is another quality performer who rarely receives attention… but he won the Men’s Doubles with Rod Laver in 1959, ’60 and ‘61… and teamed with Sandra Reynolds Price for the Mixed championship in ’59; the same year she won the Australian Women’s Doubles with South African countrywoman Renée Schuurman (who teamed with Rod Laver to lose the Mixed final).
Mark’s Australian numbers also include a Men’s Doubles final appearance with Roy Emerson in 1958 and a Mixed final with Mary Carter Reitano in ’60.
In 1961, Mark married Meryl Hammill and immigrated to South Africa. The elder sister of John Hammill (a University of Miami All-American in 1963 and circuit regular at the same time), she reached the Ladies third round at The Championships in 1959.
Marty Mulligan matched Mark’s country change… After having been the 1958 Australian Boys’ Singles and Doubles champion (with Bob Hewitt, who became a South African), being a Singles semifinalist in 1964, a Doubles finalist in 1961 and a Mixed finalist in 1960.
Given the nickname “Martino Mulligano” he began playing Davis Cup for Italy in 1968 after being the Gentlemen’s Singles finalist to countryman Rod Laver at The Championships in 1962.
“Mulligano” was the Italian Championships Singles winner in 1963, ’65, and ’67; was ranked No. 1 in the country 1968-’71; and coached the Italian Davis Cup team for ten years. More extraordinary, he was the first non-Italian born person to receive the Golden Racquet Award from the Italian Tennis Federation.
(Mulligan became the File director of Global Tennis Marketing in 1973 and is a San Francisco, California resident.)
Barbara Jordan defeated Sharon Walsh 6-3, 6-3 in the 1979 Women’s final and her sister Kathy, who also played at Stanford, won the Women’s Doubles with Anne Smith downing the defending champions Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver 6-2, 7-5 in 1981.
For Barbara the title was her first and only singles championship… and only Grand Slam except for the 1983 Roland Garros Mixed Doubles which she won with Eliot Teltscher.
Continuing the Jordan-Walsh “firsts …”, at the time, it was the first all-American final in tournament history and only the second not involving an Australian since 1935.
Walsh, primarily a doubles player, who won 30 tournaments, teamed with Kathy Jordan in four pro tournaments – one in 1980 and three in ’82. Adding to the Jordan revelation they came from King of Prussia, a distinctively named small town in Pennsylvania.
Australian Open champions did not receive the actual trophy; in 1934 the event began giving replicas because Jack Crawford and Daphne Akhurst won the Men’s and Women’s singles title multiple times… So, Jordan’s parents, shocked that she had not been given a memento, found a silver platter at an antique auction and had it engraved to commemorate her triumph.
Martina Hingis was the Australian Open Women’s Singles story from 1997 through ‘99 winning each time. Less appreciated is her remarkable tournament doubles record. She was a five-time Women’s winner with four different partners… in 1997 with Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, Mirjana Lučić of Croatia in ’98 and Anna Kournikova of Russia in ’99 and Kournikova again in 2002… then 14 years later with Sania Mirza, after having won the Mixed Doubles with Mirza’s countryman Leander Paes in 2015.
Paes was a Mixed champion with Martina Navratilova in 2003 and Cara Black of Zimbabwe in 2010. In 2012 he was the Men’s Doubles titlist with Radek Štěpánek of the Czech Republic.
Not to be overlooked, his countryman Mahesh Bhupathi teamed with Hingis for Mixed honors in 2006 and Mirza in 2009. To complete the Australian Open India success story mention must be made of Rohan Bopanna, who after playing the tournament 17 times, became the oldest first-time World No. 1 winning his first Grand Slam…the Men’s Doubles with Matthew Ebden last year.
Helen Gourlay was a four-time Women’s Doubles winner with three different Australian partners including Kerry Harris in 1972, Evonne Goolagong Cawley in ’76 and Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat in January 1977. She shared the title with Goolagong Cawley and Mona Guerrant and Kerry Melville Reid in December 1977 because of rain.
But there was more to Gourlay’s record. She was a 1971 Roland Garros Women’s Singles finalist and a December 1977 Australian Open finalist losing both title round contests to Evonne Goolagong.
Incidentally, Gourlay married Richard Cawley in 1977, who isn’t related to Evonne’s Roger Cawley whom she married in 1975.
Margaret Michel, who goes by Peggy, attended Arizona State University from 1968 to ’72. During her stay in Tempe, Arizona, she won two intercollegiate doubles titles. In 1974 she decided to train in Australia with Vic Edwards, who had been Evonne Goolagong’s coach and guardian since 1965. Edwards teamed the two, and they won the Australian Women’s Doubles and The Championships Ladies Doubles in 1974. The next year Michel played with Evonne Goolagong Cawley, and they claimed the 1975 Australian Women’s Doubles title.
A Ladies’ Doubles finalist with Patti Hogan at The Championships in 1969, Michel is currently the BNP Paribas Open Assistant Tournament Director and Vice President of Sponsorships.
Twenty-seven years after Kathy Jordan and Anne Smith “Surprised…” the Women’s Doubles, Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko did the same in 2008 edging Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Pe’er 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Three years later Azarenka, the 2012 and ’13 Women’s Singles winner, was again a three set Women’s Doubles finalist…this time with Maria Kirilenko.
Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver dominated Women’s Doubles from 1982-’85 and ’87-’89 but equally noteworthy was the 2006 Women’s Doubles record-breaking accomplishment by Yan Zi and Zheng Jie who became the first Chinese players to win a Slam.
Harry Hopman is fabled because he captained Australia when it was the preeminent Davis Cup team between 1950 and the late ’60, winning 15 of 17 finals. With that success, his record as a player is rarely cited. Yet, he was an Australian Men’s Singles finalist in 1930 to Edgar Moon and in ’31 and ’32 to Jack Crawford.
He won the Australian Men’s Doubles with Crawford in 1930. They were finalists the next year and in 1932 he and Gerald Patterson finished in the same position.
Eleanor “Nell” Hall was much more than Harry’s wife… They married in March 1934, and she was an Australian Women’s finalist to Emily Hood Westacott in 1939 and to Nancye Wynne Bolton in 1947. She was a Women’s Doubles finalist in 1935 with Louise Bickerton and in ’37 with Hood Westacott.
During the 1930s, the Hopmans were the Mixed Doubles gatekeepers winning championships in ‘30, ’36, ’37, and ’39.
They were finalists at The Championships in 1935 and at home in 1947.
Nell worked for the United States Lawn Tennis Association and the Southern California Tennis Association from 1952-’54 serving as Maureen Connolly’s traveling companion and chaperone. She and Connolly won the 1954 Roland Garros Women’s Doubles.
Australian Mixed Doubles is saga rich made more interesting by… In 1965 the Mixed title was shared. Then the event wasn’t played for 16 years and a year after it returned Jim Pugh trophied in 1988 and ’89 with Jana Novotná and with Natasha Zvereva in ’90.
The first Grand Slam of the year is a historical treasure trove which makes “Australian Open… “Bonzer…Crikey” even more readable…
Title photo of Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova after winning the 2003 Mixed Doubles by Phil Walter / PA Images
In the following video Adrian Quist provides expansive insight concerning the game and Davis Cup competition: