Helen Gourlay

Helen Gourlay
Full name Helen Gourlay Cawley
Country (sports)  Australia
Born (1946-12-23) 23 December 1946
Launceston, Australia
Height 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) [1]
Retired 1978
Plays Right-handed
Singles
Highest ranking No. 12 (1971)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open F (1977)
French Open F (1971)
Wimbledon 4R (1968, 1977)
US Open QF (1970)
Doubles
Career titles 20
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (1971, 1975, 1977, 1977)
French Open F (1971, 1977)
Wimbledon W (1977)
US Open QF (1971, 1974)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (1967)
French Open SF (1966)
Wimbledon SF (1970, 1974)
US Open QF (1971)

Helen Gourlay Cawley (born 23 December 1946) is a retired female tennis player from Australia.

She was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.

Cawley reached the singles final of two Grand Slam tournaments, losing the 1971 French Open and the December 1977 Australian Open to countrywoman Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Despite both players marrying men with the same surname, they are not related to each other.[2]

An operation on her elbow sidelined her for 10 months in 1973.[3]

Cawley's greatest success was in women's doubles. She was a four-time winner of the Australian Open (1972, 1976, 1977 (January), 1977 (December)). She won Wimbledon in 1977 partnering JoAnne Russell and was the runner-up there in 1974. And she was twice the runner-up at the French Open (1971 and 1977).

In 1987 she was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame and in 2000 received the Australian Sports Medal.[4]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runner-ups)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up1971 French Open Clay Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 3–6, 5–7
Runner-up1977 Australian Open (December) Grass Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 3–6, 0–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
Tournament 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Career SR
Australia QF 3R 3R 2R 1R QF A QF SF A 2R 2R SF SF F A A 1R 0 / 14
France A A 1R 3R 3R 2R 1R F 4R A A A A 3R A A A 0 / 8
Wimbledon A A 2R 1R 4R 3R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 2R A 4R 2R A A 0 / 11
United States A A A A A A QF 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R 2R A A A 0 / 8
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 5 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 41

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

See also

References

  1. Bostic, Stephanie, ed. (1979). USTA Player Records 1978. United States Tennis Association (USTA). p. 181.
  2. "Evonne Goolagong routs Cawley to win 4th lid". Bangor Daily News. 2 January 1978. p. 16.
  3. Jack Gurney (14 April 1974). "Helen Gourlay's Persistence Typifies Aussie Standards". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 4-D.
  4. "Helen Gourlay (Cawley)". www.dpac.tas.gov.au. Tasmanian Government.

External links

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