Latest news with #KooyongLawnTennisClub
Sydney Morning Herald
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
ABC hoping for a smash return as it serves up Evonne Goolagong biopic
Filming is under way on a three-part biopic of Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the first Indigenous Australian to win a grand slam tournament. Goolagong, produced by Werner Film Productions (The Newsreader, Secret City) for the ABC, is being shot around Melbourne and in regional Victoria, with many famous matches of the 1970s and '80s, the period in which its subject rose to the top of the sport, being recreated. Goolagong Cawley, a Wiradjuri woman, won seven grand slam singles titles – the Australian Open (four times), Wimbledon (twice, including once as a mother in 1980) and the French Open – and seven doubles titles. In 1976 she was ranked the No.1 female player in the world. She retired from professional tennis in 1985. The Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club – former home of the Australian Open – and Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club are being used as locations, while a replica of Wimbledon is being created on a vacant lot in Highett in Melbourne's southern suburbs. West Australian Lila McGuire, a Whadjuk and Wardandi Noongar woman, plays Goolagong, as she was known until her marriage in 1975 to British tennis player Roger Cawley. It is a major role for McGuire, a graduate of Perth's Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, following her breakthrough appearance in the ensemble cast of season two of The Twelve. Marton Csokas plays Vic Edwards, who discovered Goolagong as a 12-year-old prodigy, became her coach and guardian and, Goolagong Cawley would later allege, made sexual advances towards her. The series boasts strong Indigenous credentials. Goolagong Cawley is an executive producer (along with her husband Roger Cawley), and Wayne Blair (Mystery Road, Total Control, The Sapphires) is director. The screenplay is co-written by Steven McGregor (Mystery Road: Origin, Sweet Country), with Megan Simpson Huberman. Danielle MacLean (Redfern Now, Little J & Big Cuz) is producer. According to the ABC, the story 'will take us from the tiny NSW regional town of Barellan, where an eager eight-year-old Aboriginal kid first peered through the cyclone wire fence of a tennis court, to the centre courts of the world'. 'Along the way, the obstacles will be immense. While the on-court success unites a nation, a deeply disturbing dynamic is playing out behind the scenes.'
The Age
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
ABC hoping for a smash return as it serves up Evonne Goolagong biopic
Filming is under way on a three-part biopic of Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the first Indigenous Australian to win a grand slam tournament. Goolagong, produced by Werner Film Productions (The Newsreader, Secret City) for the ABC, is being shot around Melbourne and in regional Victoria, with many famous matches of the 1970s and '80s, the period in which its subject rose to the top of the sport, being recreated. Goolagong Cawley, a Wiradjuri woman, won seven grand slam singles titles – the Australian Open (four times), Wimbledon (twice, including once as a mother in 1980) and the French Open – and seven doubles titles. In 1976 she was ranked the No.1 female player in the world. She retired from professional tennis in 1985. The Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club – former home of the Australian Open – and Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club are being used as locations, while a replica of Wimbledon is being created on a vacant lot in Highett in Melbourne's southern suburbs. West Australian Lila McGuire, a Whadjuk and Wardandi Noongar woman, plays Goolagong, as she was known until her marriage in 1975 to British tennis player Roger Cawley. It is a major role for McGuire, a graduate of Perth's Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, following her breakthrough appearance in the ensemble cast of season two of The Twelve. Marton Csokas plays Vic Edwards, who discovered Goolagong as a 12-year-old prodigy, became her coach and guardian and, Goolagong Cawley would later allege, made sexual advances towards her. The series boasts strong Indigenous credentials. Goolagong Cawley is an executive producer (along with her husband Roger Cawley), and Wayne Blair (Mystery Road, Total Control, The Sapphires) is director. The screenplay is co-written by Steven McGregor (Mystery Road: Origin, Sweet Country), with Megan Simpson Huberman. Danielle MacLean (Redfern Now, Little J & Big Cuz) is producer. According to the ABC, the story 'will take us from the tiny NSW regional town of Barellan, where an eager eight-year-old Aboriginal kid first peered through the cyclone wire fence of a tennis court, to the centre courts of the world'. 'Along the way, the obstacles will be immense. While the on-court success unites a nation, a deeply disturbing dynamic is playing out behind the scenes.'
The Age
11-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Gone but not for long. Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club board member stages lightning comeback
The Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club came through the drama of its annual general meeting last December into a period of relative calm. For those who came late, the club still known as the 'spiritual home of Australian tennis' after hosting the Australian Open for most of the 1970s and 1980s, was forced to call in external auditors over a $2.4 million 'accounting loss' from its dining and functions operations. That's a mountain of wagyu beef. As we reported, external auditors blamed poor financial management and reporting, and the club said there was no evidence of criminal activity. Various officials departed. Steve Wood, the respected former chief executive of Tennis Australia, was elected unopposed as the new president in December. He appointed experienced sports administrator Ian Robson as chief executive, who had run Melbourne Victory, Rowing Australia and the Essendon Football Club when it was engulfed in the 2012 supplements scandal. The pair then settled in for a long five-setter to get the club back on track. On April 30, Sarah Sheer, a board member during the wagyu-gate saga, resigned, effective immediately. Loading But faster than a Novak Djokovic first serve, by May 2 she was back. Wood shared the happy news that Sheer had been appointed as the club's new marketing and communications manager, following a 'rigorous recruitment process' led by Robson and people and culture manager Jo Westover.
Reuters
06-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Australian Open warm-up event to return after turmoil at Kooyong
MELBOURNE, March 6 (Reuters) - The Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club will again host its storied exhibition event in Melbourne to give the world's leading tennis players another warm-up option before the Australian Open. The Kooyong Classic was missing from the tennis calendar in January after the club pulled out of running it last year amid financial turmoil and a member-led revolt against management. With a new media partner and a broadcast deal with Australia's SBS in place, however, the invitational event will go ahead next year from January 13-15 at the former home of the Australian Open. Long-time tournament director Peter Johnston said the reversion to a promoter model had helped persuade private backers to get on board. "That's enabled us to put it on," he told Reuters on Thursday. "So we've got SBS back and we're signing a few different deals for international broadcast rights and some sponsorship rights. "And we're starting to make progress again." The tournament has had its challenges, having disappeared from the calendar for three years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the club in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs was rocked by an external audit which blamed poor financial management and reporting for a A$2.4 million ($1.52 million) loss from dining and functions operations, and an overall loss of nearly A$1 million. The club's long-serving CEO departed and angry members tossed out a number of board directors at its annual general meeting. Though the losses had nothing to do with the Kooyong Classic, the club's commitment to running the tournament was tested in the environment. "The club really had a look at what is essential as a membership club," said Johnston. "It wanted to doubly focus on club-related activities." The club is now under new management and glad to leave the promotions work for the Kooyong Classic to Spain-based media company Mediapro. In its hey-day a couple of decades ago the Classic was a treat for tennis fans, with Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick claiming winner's trophies before starting their Australian Open tilts at Melbourne Park. In recent times, its prestige has dimmed as other Australian Open warm-up tournaments have emerged in Asia. Often hit by player pull-outs, Kooyong's loose format is anathema to tennis purists looking for proper contests and worthy champions. And yet top players still enjoy turning up, often with little notice, to slot in for a match or two. World number one Jannik Sinner played a couple of matches at Kooyong in 2024 on the way to winning his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. No players have signed up for 2026 yet but Johnston is confident there will be a few big names. "I think they gravitate towards being able to play at a beautiful club, at a historic stadium, maybe get a little away from the cauldron in Melbourne Park for a period of time to play their matches," said Johnston. "We had a lot of feedback from players who were a bit surprised when it wasn't on last January. "That really made us confident that we can create a great player field." ($1 = 1.5778 Australian dollars)
