Famous Australian Tennis Players

Australian former tennis player Rod Laver is widely regarded to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was ranked world No. 1 in nine different years. He holds 200 singles titles--the most in tennis history. He excelled on a variety of court surfaces: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet. The Laver Cup Tournament is named after him.

Legendary Australian tennis player Evonne Goolagong Cawley was once world number 1 and the world’s first mother to earn a Wimbledon win in 66 years. A Wiradjuri Aborigine, she is now part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and also became the Australian of the Year in 1971.

Margaret Court is an Australian retired tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 with 24 Grand Slam women's singles titles to her name. She also holds 19 Grand Slam doubles titles and 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Following her retirement, she became a Christian minister. 

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, who has had a career-best singles ranking of 13, has also been part of a few controversies. During a 2019 Wimbledon match, he apparently deliberately hit Rafael Nadal with a ball, straight in the chest, and later defended his actions, saying it was completely fair.

Pat Rafter became the first Australian male in the Open Era to win consecutive US Open titles. The former ATP singles number 1 is also the only person with an undefeated record against tennis legend Roger Federer and is remembered for his politeness and his habit of saying “Sorry, mate.”

Throughout his 25-year illustrious career, Australian tennis legend Ken Rosewall has won 18 Grand Slams, including 8 singles titles. Known for his 5’7” lean frame, he was nicknamed Muscles by his teammates, apparently, for the lack of them. The son of a grocer, he had begun playing tennis at age 3.

Ashleigh Barty is an Australian tennis player and the current world No. 1 as per the Women's Tennis Association. Barty has won two Grand Slam singles titles:  2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon, and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US Open She also won on a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Born to Greek immigrant parents in Adelaide, Thanasi Kokkinakis was inspired by Russian tennis star Marat Safin in childhood. He now has a career-high ranking of 69 in singles. In 2021, he revealed how he had battled depression and had contemplated quitting tennis after a series of injuries threatened his career.

Roy Emerson is a former tennis player from Australia. A former world No. 1, Emerson won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles and 12 Grand Slam singles titles, which includes a career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles. Emerson went on to achieve another career Grand Slam, becoming the first man to complete a double career Grand Slam in singles.

Lleyton Hewitt is an Australian professional tennis player and a former world No. 1. He has won one Wimbledon, one U.S. Open and one U.S. Open doubles title. The son of a sportsman, he developed an early interest in different kinds of sports and decided to pursue tennis professionally. He has been involved in several controversies. 

One of Australia’s greatest wheelchair sportspersons, Dylan Alcott has mastered both wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball. He is also one of the rare few to have won Paralympic gold medals in two sports, both basketball and tennis. In 2021, he declared his wish to retire from tennis after the Australian Open.

Ajla Tomljanovic is a Croatian-Australian tennis player best known for her performance as a junior player. Tomljanović, who played for Croatia from 2009 to 2018, has been representing Australia at all events on the WTA Tour since 2018. Ajla Tomljanovic reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2021 when her fourth round opponent Emma Raducanu retired in the second set.

Pat Cash is an Australian retired tennis player renowned for popularizing the act of climbing into the stands to celebrate. The celebration, which has been carried on as a tradition, was first showcased by Cash in 1987 when he won the men's singles championship title at Wimbledon. Cash was also part of the Davis Cup-winning team in 1983 and 1986.

Once world number 17 in singles, tennis sensation Bernard Tomic has also been controversy’s favorite child. Known for his on-and-off relationship with reality TV star Vanessa Sierra, and for appearing on an adult site, he now claims to have stopped partying and alcohol and has apparently taken to veganism.

Yugoslavian-born tennis star Jelena Dokic had once been world number 4 in singles. While she represented Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia, and Australia in international events, post-retirement, she has mostly been associated with Australian tennis as a coach, author, and sports commentator. She accused her father of abuse in her memoir.

Australian tennis player Samantha Stosur, once world number 1 in doubles, has also had a career-high ranking of 4 in singles. She holds a national WTA record of being the top player for 442 consecutive weeks. Openly lesbian, she had a daughter with her partner, Liz Astling, in 2020.

Born to an Uruguayan father and a Spanish mother, in Sydney, Alex de Minaur began training in tennis at age 3. Now, with a career-high world singles ranking of 15, he is one of the most promising tennis stars of Australia. He tested COVID-positive and thus missed the Tokyo Olympics.

Australian former tennis player Mark Philippoussis is nicknamed The Scud for his missile-like deliveries. The former world number 8 singles player has two Davis Cups in his kitty and is now a famous reality TV star. He once went bankrupt but has since recovered and now owns a clothing brand.

Australian tennis coach and former player Darren Cahill is best known for mentoring renowned players such as Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, and Simona Halep. He was also the Australian Davis Cup coach. Known by his nickname Killer in the tennis circuit, he also works as a tennis analyst for ESPN.

Daria Gavrilova is a Russian-born Australian tennis player. She represented Russia from 2009 to 2015 post which she began representing Australia. An accomplished junior player, Gavrilova won the gold medal at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. After turning professional, Gavrilova has achieved victories over former Grand Slam champions like Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitová, and Angelique Kerber.

Sam Groth is an Australian retired tennis player who competed in both singles and doubles events at Grand Slams and other major tournaments. In 2015 and 2017, Groth was part of the Australian Davis Cup team. After retiring as a player in 2018, Sam Groth has been working as a TV host.

Australian tennis player John Millman debuted at the ITF Junior tournament at age 15 and now boasts of a career-high ranking of 33 in singles. Apart from tennis, he is also a big fan of soccer. His popularity has made a Brisbane Times journalist coin the term Millmania.

Alexei Popyrin is an Australian tennis player who made his Davis Cup debut in February 2019. Popyrin won his first ATP title in February 2021 when he defeated Marin Čilić and Alexander Bublik in the semifinal and final respectively to win the Singapore Open.             

Hana Mandlíková is a retired tennis player best known for winning four Grand Slam singles titles. She also won the doubles title at the 1989 US Open. Mandlíková won the Fed Cup for Czechoslovakia on four occasions. Counted among the greatest players of all time, Hana Mandlíková was made an inductee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.

Tony Roche had started playing tennis at age 9 and joined the Wagga Wagga Tennis Club at 13. He was part of the Handsome Eight of tennis, joining the league with players such as Cliff Drysdale and Roger Taylor. Post-retirement, he coached Australia’s Davis Cup team.

Remembered as the coach of tennis legend Roger Federer, Peter Carter had started off as a player but moved to coaching after his playing career was cut short due to injuries. He tragically died in a car accident at the Kruger National Park, where he was supposed to be holidaying with his wife.

Edwin Flack was an Australian tennis player and athlete. In 1896, Flack became Australia's first Olympian when he represented the nation in the first modern Olympic Games. He went on to win gold medals in the 800m and 1500m events, becoming the first Australian Olympic champion. In 1985, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.