The Australian Tennis Museum in Homebush, New South Wales, Australia | Museum

The Australian Tennis Museum

Locality: Homebush, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9024 7629

Address: Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre, Rod Laver Drive 2127 Homebush, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.tennis.com.au/museum

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25.01.2022 Poetic writing on the social side of tennis from the 1912 book - "Lawn Tennis in Australasia" - the earliest known printed history of tennis in Australia.

22.01.2022 ROSE HANNAH PAYTEN was a champion NSW player who won the NSW Ladies Singles Championship six times in 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1907. She was described in newspaper accounts of the time as 'most versatile. She played the game as a man would, coming in to rally on her service. She drove, she chopped, she lobbed, she volleyed, equally adept in any part of the court'. All this whilst wearing the restrictive garb of the time. https://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au//Prominen...tP/PaytenRose http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71515449 In 1930 The Evening News of Sydney, looked back on her tennis victories thus: Back in 1900 a girl from the country flashed into the tennis firmament of the Metropolis and trailed a path of glory for several years. She was Miss Rose Payten of Campbelltown, who won the Ladies Singles Championship of that year, and triple honours singles, doubles and mixed doubles in 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1907; unprecedented achievements that have never been repeated. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120354250 Rose Payten retired from tennis after her 1907 win due to health issues but she took up golf and became a championship player in that sport. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/234539158# The Australian Tennis Museum collection is lucky to hold some of her early NSW Championship tennis shields. The photos show them when donated to the museum, after the first clean and final clean with some restoration. https://artsandculture.google.com//nsw-cham/6wGpjEhukvPIfw https://artsandculture.google.com//ladies-s/ewHhXk6BcCSh2Q See more

19.01.2022 Wilma Rosewall (nee McIver) The Australian Tennis Museum mourns the death of Wilma Rosewall on Sunday. Our deepest sympathy is sent to our Museum Patron, Ken Rosewall, and his family. Wilma McIver played tennis from a young age. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216564206 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216550040... She was coached by Gar Moon, a former Davis Cup player and Wilson Cup Coach, in preparation for inter-state competition. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132157039 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50240071 Wilma first met Ken in 1948 in Brisbane when she played for the QLD schoolgirls team and Ken played for the NSW schoolboys team. She was the No.1 QLD Junior in 1952 and travelled to Melbourne with the Wilson Cup team. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232003559 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50609732 Wilma and Ken married in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, in1956; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L186pErE_dE Wilma was the mainstay of the family and they built a wonderful life around tennis. She was a beloved part of the Museum community, she and Ken attending the annual Ken Rosewall Luncheon and delighting many patrons. All the Museum volunteers and members send their condolences to Ken and the rest of the family. See more

13.01.2022 On Tuesday 5th May we are calling all tennis lovers to pay tribute to Wilma Rosewall by displaying a tennis racquet from your mailbox or balcony as a sign of so...lidarity and respect for Ken, Wilma and their family. Wilma first met Ken in 1948 in Brisbane when she played for the QLD schoolgirls team and Ken played for the NSW schoolboys team. Wilma and Ken married in 1956, and since then built a wonderful life around tennis. Our deepest sympathy is sent to Ken Rosewall, and his family.

13.01.2022 GEORGE ALLAN WORTHINGTON (1928-1964) was a NSW tennis player from Sydney. George won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships in 1951, 1952 and 1955 together with Thelma Coyne Long. In that latter year, 1955, they had defeated Jenny Staley and Lew Hoad. He also won many singles titles including the British Pro Championships 6 times consecutively from 1957 to 1962, the Slazenger Pro Championships two times, (1957, 1962), the Sydney Metropolitan Championships... three times, (1950, 1953-54), and the Surrey Championships one time, (1953), the East of England Championships one time, (1949) and the New Zealand Championships one time, (1950). Here is a great article on TROVE describing his play and wins in the men's singles and mixed doubles in the A.C.T. Open tennis championships of 1953. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2893713 George was a member of the Australian Davis Cup squad in 1950-52, when the team defeated USA in the Challenge Round each year. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22764768 In 1952 George married Barbara McKee - who still works at the Australian Tennis Museum as a dedicated volunteer (see the added photos). https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248199203 In 1952 George and his wife moved to New Zealand for his work but he was soon approached by the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in 1955 to coach both the English Davis Cup team and Wightman Cup team. So began their life in England. After he took over the DC team coaching, the team never failed to reach the semi-finals in the European zone and in 1963 were the winners in that zone. According to Ken Rosewall, he was "an excellent player in practice. He was known as the 'Champion of Practice'". See this rare footage of George defeating Jaroslov Drobny in NSW Tennis Championship rounds in the 1950s. https://footage.framepool.com//545191644-george-worthingto and his appearance at the end of this footage about Fred Perry's fashion line - Tennis Styles in Play and Fashions, courtesy of British Pathe: https://www.britishpathe.com//ten/query/george+worthington Sadly, George passed away at the early age of 36 after a battle with cancer. A fitting tribute to his playing and coaching career appeared in the Birmingham Daily Post in 1964. See the last image in this post. See more

11.01.2022 'BILL' (OSWALD WILLIAM THOMAS) SIDWELL is a NSW tennis player, born in Goulburn in 1920. As a junior, he won the Australian Championships boys' singles event in 1939 and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Championships men's doubles in 1948, 1949 and 1950. Sidwell reached five Grand Slam doubles finals, winning the 1949 U.S. National Championships with partner John Bromwich. He was twice runner-up at Wimbledon, once at the French Championships and once at the Austr...alian Championships. See this footage from British Pathe where he and Long play Bromwich and Quist in the NSW Championship doubles final in 1947. https://www.britishpathe.com//VLVADCTOF/query/bill+sidwell Bill was also a member of the Davis Cup team in 1948 and 1949 where Australia lost the Challenge Round to the US both times. In 1949 he was ranked World No.10 by sports journalist John Olliff. Bill retired in 1951 to concentrate on his business career with Slazenger in management where he worked for 47 years from 1935 to 1982. In 2015 Bill Sidwell was guest speaker at the Ken Rosewall Luncheon in Sydney, for the Australian Tennis Museum and entertained guests with his memories of playing tennis at the top of the game in the 1940s-1950s and his subsequent working life with Slazenger. This April 16 he will celebrate his 100th birthday. See more

07.01.2022 IN MEMORY OF WILMA ROSEWALL The Australian Tennis Museum staff are in mourning with the passing of Wilma Rosewall. We express our deepest sympathy for our Museum Patron, Ken Rosewall, and his family. A private funeral will be held tomorrow in QLD. The family have asked in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Trish Foundation in honour of Wilma. You can find more information about the Trish Foundation here: https://trishmsresearch.org.au/ways-to-help/ You can also pay tribute by joining the call from Tennis NSW to display a tennis racquet from your mailbox or balcony tomorrow.

07.01.2022 Sadly, the May 2020 Ken Rosewall Luncheon with guest speaker Casey Dellacqua was cancelled due to COVID-19 crisis. Happily,you can watch this interview instead to gain insight into her life in lockdown, career, motivations, and future promotion of women's tennis. Sound quality faulters in the middle but stay with it for a great profile of a great athlete.

05.01.2022 In this period of isolation keep up to date with museums by visiting Google Art and Cuture website and in particular, our sports museums, by looking at all the wonderful stories and collections on line in Australia: Great Sporting Land. https://artsandculture.google.com/project/australian-sports Here is the link to the Teddy Tinling collection held at the Australian Tennis Museum. https://artsandculture.google.com//teddy-ti/egISt8OvuyliLA

02.01.2022 The Australian Tennis Museum would like to thank all its volunteers, especially over the last year with a big move of the collection to off-site storage. It was a huge effort and lots of time put in, and still an ongoing project when we get back to work after the lock-down. You know who you are but our fans may not! Miss you from home isolation. Thanks to Barbara Worthington, Ken Ryan, Bruce Ryan, Annie Phawong, Jillian McCarthy, June Lovett, Marion Jones, Fay Gilmour, Beryl Eagar, Wendy Burke, David Burke, Ellie Cope and the late Warren Cope, and all past volunteers. And of course, thanks to our Patron, Ken Rosewall. Many years of work with lots of satisfaction and joy along the way. Watch out 2021. #NVW2020 #waveforvolunteers https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/get-involved/nvw/

01.01.2022 PROFESSIONAL TENNIS TOUR OF AUSTRALIA 1951 A wonderful recent donation from A. Stone in Victoria. The booklet details the story of professional tennis tours in Australia during the 1950s. You hear about the brutal schedules of professional tennis in those early days but this really brings it home. A hectic schedule where 4 players spent 50 days non-stop entertaining tennis fans around 32 cities and towns in Australia. They even played on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and... Australia Day - and threw in 5 Saturday Clinics for junior players. Some great photos too and an insight into promoters, prize money and how funds were raised. Australian player DENNIS 'DINNY' PAILS was on this tour. Pails won the men's singles championship at the Australian Championships in 1947 and played eight Davis Cup matches between 1946 and 1947. He turned professional at the end of 1947. Bud Collins ranked him the World No.4 pro in 1948, whilst he reached as high as World No.6 in the 1947 amateur rankings. The Museum holds some items related to Dinny shown in the photos. Also take a look at the great bio provided by Rod Lack on the Tennis History site: http://tennishistory.com.au/2010/05/dinny-pails/ Go here for some footage after the singles match footage of Dinny Pails playing doubles with Viv McGrath in "a ding-dong doubles" against Jack Crawford and Bryan 'Bitsy' Grant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQDisyjDEiY Pails in singles against Bromwich in Adelaide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPuJzwy6-o And in doubles with Crawford in Sydney and then against Bromwich in singles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MApa-NTaeS4 Great footage, commentary and love the crowd shots too. See more