Australia has produced some of the greatest tennis players the world has ever seen and to acknowledge this fact the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame was established in 1993.
Every Australia Day players are inducted during the Australian Open. It is one of the highest honours an Australian player can receive.
The player is awarded a bronze bust which is the unveiled at the Rod Laver Arena it is then placed alongside all the other previous recipients of the award in Garden Square at Melbourne Park.
Famous Hall of Fame winners are;
Rod Laver
Perhaps the most famous of all Australian player of all time. Laver was the second man in history to complete the Grand Slam in 1962. He is also the only ever player to win the Grand Slam twice.
Rod Laver was also the first player ever to pocket $1 million in prize money.
He was a powerful left hander utilising topspin as one of his greatest weapons.
He dominated the world game in the 1960’s winning 17 titles and being a part of five Davis Cup winning teams.
John Newcombe
A tough serve-volleyer who was adept at singles and doubles alike. He quite often destroyed opposition players with a three shot trick. Serve, volley and a forehand winner.
“Newk” won 7 Grand Slam singles with only the French Open eluding him. With his long time friend and doubles partner he was victorious in 12 Grand Slam Doubles more than any other team in history.
He was also part of five winning Davis Cup teams and captained the team in 1994 and led them to victory over France.
Wendy Turnbull
Nicknamed “Rabbit” because of her speed around the court. In an illustrious career she made the final to every Grand Slam championship apart from Wimbledon that eluded her.
She was recognised as being a very consistent player being in the world top ten rankings for eight straight years. In 1985 she achieved her highest singles ranking of No.3.
Although never winning a singles title she won four doubles titles and five mixed doubles.
Pat Rafter
One of the most popular players on the circuit. Pat Rafter won back to back US Open titles in 1997 & 1998. An expert in serve and volley which suited the grass courts of Wimbledon perfectly. He reached the final twice in 2001 & 2001 and was a semi finalist in 1999.
He was highly respected for his sportsmanship which was recognised in being awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award and a further four ATP Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Awards. Within a couple of weeks of his retirement Pat was named as Australian of the Year IN 2002.
These are only four of the Australian tennis players to have been honoured with the award since 1993, and there are many many more names that appear on the list.
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