This Nine News Adelaide report returns us to the moment Ash Barty became the first Australian woman in more than 40 years to win Wimbledon. Opening with the final point, the clip captures the emotion of her victory and the celebrations that followed, echoing Pat Cash’s unforgettable climb into the stands in 1987.

You’ll see the key moments that defined the match, including Barty’s early dominance over former world No. 1 Karolína Plíšková and the composure she carried through decisive points. In the tight three-set battle, the Australian top seed and world No. 1 would prevail over her Czech opponent 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in one hour and fifty-five minutes.

The Queenslander’s post‑match reflections and on‑court speech highlight the years of work behind the win and her deep connection to mentor Evonne Goolagong Cawley, whose own Wimbledon triumphs frame the significance of this achievement.

With Goolagong Cawley appearing later in the report to celebrate Barty’s performance, the clip brings together past and present – a reminder of how meaningful this moment is in First Nations sporting history.

Boris Becker may have been the two-time Wimbledon defending champion but it was 22-year-old Pat Cash who won the men's single championship in straight sets against Ivan Lendl, 7-6; 6-2; 7-5.

Cash was a perennial presence in the Australian Davis Cup team throughout the 1980s but his Wimbledon victory was his only Grand Slam title.

This media segment from Seven Nightly News is a good example of tightly constructed editing. Interspersed with footage of the match itself are interviews with the players and reactions by family members and even Prime Minister Bob Hawke. It gives a complete picture of a moment in time.

Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s journey is one of the most powerful chapters in Australian sporting history. This NFSA-preserved footage offers a rare look at her early life, her emergence as a rising star and the media attention that followed her every step.

As a young Wiradjuri girl growing up in Barellan, Evonne honed her skills with a homemade paddle and a water tank for a wall. Within a few years, she was competing on the world stage, emerging as the first Indigenous Australian to win a Grand Slam singles title and later becoming a two-time Wimbledon champion.

In this clip from a 1972 Commonwealth Film Unit production, Evonne speaks openly about how the media treated her as a showpiece – repeatedly referencing her Aboriginality. Yet she also reflects on the immense pride she felt in being the only Indigenous Australian tennis player on the international tour, even as she navigated the scrutiny and expectations placed upon her.

The film also captures her in action, showing off her athletic, all-court game. Seen here is rare footage of the 20-year-old player up against fellow future Australian Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Jan O’Neill, in the women’s singles final of the 1972 New South Wales Hardcourt Championships held at Grenfell. Goolagong Cawley would win comfortably – 6-1, 6-2 – capping a hugely successful state championships, also winning the women’s doubles and mixed doubles events.

Eight years later, Evonne Goolagong Cawley would win her second Wimbledon Women’s Singles Championship in 1980, the first mother to win the English title in 66 years.

Her success as a champion and sporting role model paved the way for future generations of Australian women’s players, including Ash Barty. Goolagong Cawley’s enduring advocacy for Indigenous health, education and opportunities through sport continues to influence Australia today.

This rare television moment, preserved by the NFSA from the two-inch broadcast videotape master, brings together three giants of 1970s tennis.

Hosted by Roger Climpson, this 1977 episode of the long-running series This Is Your Life pays tribute to John Newcombe, one of Australia’s most successful and versatile champions, with surprise appearances from Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors.

Rosewall, whose remarkable career featured 35 major finals and 8 Grand Slam singles titles, reflects on Newcombe’s determination and the era they helped define. Connors adds his own perspective as a fierce rival, noting that despite their long careers, they met in only one Grand Slam final: the 1975 Australian Open.

With his trademark handlebar moustache, broad grin and natural charisma, ‘Newk’ became one of Australian sport’s most high-profile personalities. This excerpt also features several examples of his iconic post-game net jumps. The winner of 26 Grand Slam titles across singles, doubles and mixed doubles, his record places him among the game’s greatest players.

Newcombe retired from professional tennis in 1981 but remained heavily involved in the sport, captaining the Australian Davis Cup team to victory (1999) and working in commentary for many years. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986.  

Produced by Lifetime Associates Pty Ltd, this piece offers us a glimpse into the mutual respect shared among champions who pushed each other to be better.

This short newsreel clip marks the return of the 'Rockhampton Rocket', world No. 1 tennis player Rod Laver, to Brisbane in 1962.

Laver was the world No.1 amateur player from 1961–62 and the No. 1 professional player from 1964–70 when he won 10 or more titles every year for seven consecutive years.

He won Wimbledon four times and the Grand Slam twice, in 1962 and 1969. His 200 singles titles is the most in tennis history, making him one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

The home of the Australian Open in Melbourne was renamed the Rod Laver Arena in his honour, in 2000.

This footage from the Nine Network shows the first set of the 1970 Women's Singles Championship match between Australia's Margaret Court and American tennis star, Billie Jean King.

Court won the match in straight sets, 14-12 and 11-9. This was before the introduction of tie-breakers to decide sets. Court’s victory was her third Wimbledon title and her third Grand Slam win of the year.

Court amassed more major titles than any other player in tennis history with 192 singles titles, including 24 Grand Slam titles. She is the only player in tennis history to complete a multiple Grand Slam set, twice, in all three disciplines: singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

Court was dubbed the 'Aussie Amazon' because of her rigorous exercise routine.

American Billie Jean King was a world No.1 tennis player with 39 Grand Slam victories in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, including six single Wimbledon titles. She is also known for defeating Bobby Riggs in a much-hyped exhibition match dubbed 'The Battle of the Sexes' in September 1973.

Earlier in the same year, Riggs had easily defeated Margaret Court in a similar exhibition game which became known as the 'Mother's Day Massacre'.

In this newsreel Ken Rosewall returns home after Australia's Davis Cup success, defeating defending champions the United States.

With the huge sums of money earned by tennis players today, it seems odd to hear the narrator say that the 'big question' is whether Rosewall will turn professional. But this was at a time when international tennis was largely an amateur sport

Overall, Rosewall reached a record 35 major finals, winning 23, including 8 Grand Slam singles titles. 

Rosewall was renowned for his backhand, which he played one-handed with a dangerous back spin, considered by some as one of the best in the history of the game.

Lleyton Hewitt’s 2002 Wimbledon victory was the first time an Australian man had lifted the trophy in 15 years. 

This segment from Sky News Australia takes you back to the heart of that final, focusing closely on the match itself so you can experience Hewitt’s precision, athleticism and absolute dominance over Argentina’s David Nalbandian as it unfolded.

It also includes the outrageous mid-match moment that a streaker bolts across Centre Court, and we see the reactions of the Royal Family watching from the stands. 

The interview at the end of the clip shows Hewitt reflecting on what the win means not just for him, but for the young Australian players coming up behind him. 

A straight sets championship victory – winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 – capped a remarkable tournament for the 21-year-old South Australian, losing only two sets across seven matches. The world No. 1 and top seed would break English hearts, similarly dispatching local favourite ‘Tiger’ Tim Henman in their semifinal in straight sets.

Nearly a quarter of a century on, no Australian player has since managed to win the Men’s Singles Championship at Wimbledon. Gallant losing finalists Pat Rafter (2000, 2001), Mark Philippoussis (2003) and Nick Kyrgios (2022) have come the closest.

This clip is from Bicentennial Minutes, a series of 60-second snapshots of Australian history produced in 1988 to mark 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney in 1788.

This episode features Australian tennis great Norman Brookes who won the Davis Cup for Australia in 1907. He was part of the Australasian Davis Cup team that won the title on six occasions and is considered to have been the world No.1 player in the 1900s.

Known as ‘The Wizard’, and always attired in long sleeves and cloth cap, Brookes’ controlled speed in ground shots and aggressive net attack took him to the top of international tennis. He was the first non-British player to win the Wimbledon singles and doubles titles in 1907 and again in 1914 (he was runner-up in the singles in 1905 and 1919).

After his active playing career Brookes became president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia and was knighted in 1939.

This Bicentennial Minutes clip is a wonderful example of the use of archival footage to tell a compelling story. At just a minute in length, this clip offers an effective vignette of the career of one of Australia's tennis pioneers. Peter Luck's narration is concise and engaging.

This newsreel features footage of Australian players Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall – dubbed here 'the tennis twins' – at the 1962 Davis Cup.

The first Davis Cup took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1900 between the United States and Britain. Australian players started to compete in 1905.

Australia and the US have an intense rivalry in Davis Cup history and Hoad and Rosewall are each seen facing off against American competitors in this clip.

This short news item is about bronze busts of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde going on display in Garden Square, Melbourne Park after the players were inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.

Nicknamed 'The Woodies', they formed one of the most successful doubles partnerships in tennis history.

Together they won 11 Grand Slam titles including the French Open, two Australian and US Opens, and a record six Wimbledon championships.

Host Roger Climpson honours Frank Sedgman on an episode of This Is Your Life in 1979. This clip includes an appearance by his wife Jean and footage of his winning Wimbledon in 1952.

From 1948 to 1952 Frank Sedgman won 22 major titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. With his doubles partner Ken McGregor, he won all four majors in 1951 and only just missed repeating the achievement in 1952 when they won the Australian, French and Wimbledon championships but were runners-up in the US.

His success came during a time when tennis was becoming a professional sport, splitting from the amateur circuit. The ‘special wedding present’ referred to in this clip was a fundraising drive led by Harry Hopman to keep Sedgman as an amateur. Sedgman retained his amateur status for only another year, deciding to turn professional in 1953.

National Nine News reports on Pat Rafter's loss to Goran Ivanišević at the Wimbledon final in 2001.

This news segment is a good example of telling an engaging story in under two minutes. Surprisingly very little of the match itself is shown – less than five seconds – in place of the reactions of fans, family and even Prime Minister John Howard. We also see people celebrating in Croatia the victory of Ivanišević.

The clip effectively highlights how the Wimbledon competition resonates on a national level, as well as internationally.

This clip by the Australian News and Information Bureau shows young Australians being coached and competing to become the tennis stars of tomorrow.

James Outram Anderson, winner of three Australian championships and a Wimbledon doubles title, demonstrates how to grip the racquet.

A young Ken Rosewall is seen playing Frank Sedgman.

This National Film Board episode of Australian Diary was made not long after Australia regained the Davis Cup in 1950.

At that time the team played with Australian-made tennis racquets, which were also exported to countries like the US and South Africa. 

This clip shows how the racquets were made and features Ken McGregor, who was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1950, 1951 and 1952.

The Australian Commonwealth Film Unit made several short public service films using sporting stars to promote road safety. This clip has tennis great Harry Hopman warning people to stay focused when driving.

Hopman was the successful captain-coach of 22 Australian Davis Cup teams from 1939 to 1967. He worked with many of the greatest names in Australian men's tennis and his legacy is recognised in the Hopman Cup, an annual international hardcourt tennis tournament held in Perth.

This 1933 Movietone newsreel film takes you back to the year Jack Crawford stood at the top of world tennis. 

After winning the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon, Crawford came within one match of becoming the first player in history to claim all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year – narrowly missing out in a five‑set final against Fred Perry at the US Championships.

Brief match footage seen in this clip includes action from his victory over American Ellsworth Vines in the 1933 Wimbledon Championships Men’s Final; both players wearing flannel trousers. Crawford can be seen playing with his trademark Cressy Wizard, a uniquely designed flat-top racquet produced by Tasmanian company Alexanders.  

In an epic two-hour struggle, Crawford would hold off his opponent in five sets, winning 4-6, 11-9, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, Australia’s first Wimbledon champion since 1922. Such was the excitement surrounding the game, Australian newspapers reported Crawford’s mother fainting upon news of his victory while listening to the relayed broadcast via Sydney radio station 2FC. 

Captured nearly a century ago, the film offers a glimpse of Crawford’s much-copied fluent style: a game built less on power and more on accuracy, anticipation and smooth court movement.

In likely the earliest surviving footage to feature his voice, ‘Gentleman Jack’ – a moniker attributed to his exemplary sportsmanship – then uncomfortably addresses the camera, appearing to read from a script positioned close to the camera as he recalls his Wimbledon victory.

Crawford would continue to wear his trademark long trousers on court well into his retirement. Retaining much popularity with the public, the Albury-born champion would be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.

This 1961 Movietone newsreel highlights the style and technique of one our most decorated tennis players.

The NFSA holds only the 35mm film picture negative for this revealing footage of champion Australian left-hander Rod Laver, captured before the Queenslander turned professional in 1962. 

As the NFSA does not yet hold a print with picture and sound intact, the voice-over narration that would have accompanied these images for cinema screenings at the time is absent here. 

Without sound, Laver’s timing, power and movement come into clear view. His serve-and-volley game, aggressive ground strokes and precise technique unfold shot by shot, with the aid of slow-motion filming. Close-ups of his grip and strokes reveal why commentators have described him as ‘technically faultless’.

The footage includes Laver playing Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli in the 1961 Davis Cup Challenge Round at Kooyong Stadium, Melbourne, as well as a doubles match alongside Neale Fraser against Pietrangeli and Orlando Sirola. Australia went on to win the tie five rubbers to nil, and the team is shown with the trophy.

Laver’s legendary tennis status was sealed in 1969 after completing the ‘Big Four’ for the second time, winning the four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) all in the same year, after first achieving this in 1962. 

Considered by many experts the greatest men’s player of all time, Laver retired from professional tennis in 1979. The Australian Open’s largest indoor arena was renamed in his honour in 2000.

In 1968, Australian Diary turned its lens to a sport in transition and asked: Was Australia losing interest in tennis?

At a time when crowds at major matches were thinning, tennis courts were being abandoned, and public enthusiasm looked uncertain, this short film explored whether the era of tennis as a dominant summer sport was coming to an end.  

The seven-minute colour newsreel captures a specific moment in the sport’s history. At one point, the film’s narration posed the question, 'Will Open Tennis change the scene?' This referenced the seismic shift introduced in the year the film was produced.

Known as ‘the Open Era’, from 1968, professional tennis players were eligible to enter the major tennis tournaments, including the four Grand Slam events. Previously, entry was available only to amateur players competing at the Wimbledon, Australian, French and US Opens, shutting out many of the sport’s finest players.

This newsreel also posed the question of whether tennis’ popularity as a social pastime would remain as high when competing with newer interests pursued by young people in ‘today’s fast-moving scene’.

Highlighting the growing lure of other, higher-energy activities, sequences of young girls marching and training in perfectly regimented lines are juxtaposed with shots of boys trail-biking and playing rugby union. Produced by the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit and preserved by the NFSA, this piece is a rare look at the cultural crossroads facing the sport in the late 1960s.

This newsreel clip shows Junior Hardcourt Champion Tony Roche in a practice game with professional champion Lew Hoad.

Roche went on to make the Wimbledon final once, in 1968, where he was defeated by fellow Australian Rod Laver in straight sets. Roche won a Grand Slam singles title – the French Championship in 1966 – but was runner-up at Grand Slam events five times.

He was an accomplished doubles player, with 13 Grand Slam titles, mostly paired with John Newcombe. After retirement as a player, Roche had a very successful coaching career working with Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt.

Lew Hoad, also seen in this clip, won four Grand Slam singles titles (including twice at Wimbledon) and had a string of titles as a doubles player. 

Please note this clip is silent. The NFSA holds the picture negative only for this newsreel rather than the final version, with voice-over narration, that would have screened in cinemas at the time.

Players wear roller skates in a mixed doubles tennis match played in Melbourne in this newsreel clip from 1940.

Please note this clip is silent. The NFSA holds the picture negative only for this newsreel rather than the final version, with voice-over narration, that would have screened in cinemas at the time.