Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the sit Down.
Speaker 2: I'm Viv Christie, Managing editor for Australian Tennis Magazine, and.
Speaker 3: I'm Metrolope, a writer and editor for oz open dot com.
Speaker 3: And Viv, why are we sitting down this week with
Speaker 3: Evon Gula Gone Coli.
Speaker 2: Well, Matt, we are actually not sitting down with Evon
Speaker 2: Gula Gon Colly, but Casey de Laqua, a friend and
Speaker 2: former guest of the sit Down, sat down with Evon
Speaker 2: during the Night of Champions event last year. That was
Speaker 2: an event that benefited the Australian Tennis Foundation as well
Speaker 2: as Evon's foundation. And the timing is also perfect to
Speaker 2: bring you this interview because the National Indigenous Tennis Carnival
Speaker 2: has just wrapped in Darwin. Evon has been a huge
Speaker 2: part of that carnival, which inspires a lot of First
Speaker 2: Nations players, you know, following a trend of Evon's entire career.
Speaker 2: She's inspired players generally, including Ashbarti, who went on to
Speaker 2: emulate some of Evon's amazing achievements.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she certainly did. And you speak about great timing.
Speaker 3: It's also the fifty year anniversary of when Eyvon rose
Speaker 3: to world number one. We actually told this story during
Speaker 3: nay Up Week because it's a unique one. She wasn't
Speaker 3: recognized at the time as being a world number one.
Speaker 3: It was discovered more than thirty years later when it
Speaker 3: was revealed there were some missing weeks in the rankings
Speaker 3: and when they discovered the paperwork, they realized Evon had
Speaker 3: been number one for two weeks in nineteen seventy six,
Speaker 3: so she got retroactively honored for that achievement, spent two
Speaker 3: weeks at world number one, the first Australian woman ever
Speaker 3: to be ranked number one on the WTA computer. Just
Speaker 3: one of many remarkable parts about her career. Her Australian
Speaker 3: Open record is outstanding. Obviously Roland Garross and Wimbledon champion,
Speaker 3: and yet she's a player that has just inspired people
Speaker 3: the world over. And you can also hear it from
Speaker 3: Casey herself how much of an honor it was to
Speaker 3: chat to Yvonne.
Speaker 4: And well, Levonne, I think for someone like myself that
Speaker 4: absolutely grew up idolizing you, I don't remember anyone having
Speaker 4: such beautiful volleys on the grass as I saw you
Speaker 4: have them all the time at Wimbledon, and honestly, to
Speaker 4: be sitting here next to you. Being able to chat
Speaker 4: toy is always pretty special. But for you to be
Speaker 4: the guest of honor here tonight, the inaugural Night of Champions,
Speaker 4: it must be pretty special for you.
Speaker 5: Oh. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe all the tables.
Speaker 5: There's a lot of people out there, and.
Speaker 1: It's such a beautiful room, isn't it.
Speaker 5: And it's a gorgeous room. I've never been here before,
Speaker 5: so yeah, it made me feel really special tonight, So
Speaker 5: thank you all.
Speaker 4: Well, this Regent Ballroom, as we said, it's a beautiful room,
Speaker 4: but it is a long way from the wheat town
Speaker 4: of Burrellen in New South Wales where you grew up.
Speaker 4: Can you take us back to that time where you
Speaker 4: walked onto a tennis court hit against that wall and
Speaker 4: what it meant to you?
Speaker 5: Well, actually, I actually started playing tennis before we moved
Speaker 5: to Burrellen and saw my first tennis court. But in
Speaker 5: those days, my older sister and brother used to hit
Speaker 5: against the wall with a stick and using a ball
Speaker 5: that my dad found in an old car, and so
Speaker 5: they were using this stick and then he said, oh
Speaker 5: maybe I could get him to use something better than that,
Speaker 5: so he cut a handle out of something like this.
Speaker 5: That is awesome, how good an apple great board? And
Speaker 5: I spent many many hours hitting against the wall. After
Speaker 5: seeing my older sister and brother using this bat and
Speaker 5: hitting against the wall, I being the third youngest, took
Speaker 5: it off them and I wouldn't give it back. But
Speaker 5: then this isn't this isn't the same actual one, but
Speaker 5: it's very similar the one that I was using. My
Speaker 5: younger sister, who was a baby, then put it in
Speaker 5: the fire and burnt it. I could have killed her.
Speaker 5: But anyway, this bat has taken me a long way.
Speaker 5: When we moved to Burrell and I saw a wall
Speaker 5: being erected, I think I watched every brick being laid
Speaker 5: of that war. And so I kept hitting against the
Speaker 5: wall every day. And I used to see how many
Speaker 5: times I can hit the ball against the wall one
Speaker 5: bounce without making a mistake, Write the highest score in
Speaker 5: the dirt, come back the next day and try and
Speaker 5: beat that score. So I was trying to beat the wall,
Speaker 5: which is crazy. But there was an old gentleman who
Speaker 5: used to work in the hardware store, and his name
Speaker 5: was Stan Smith, of all names. Little did I know
Speaker 5: that I was going to meet a Stan Smith from America,
Speaker 5: and then we lived next door to mister Dunlop.
Speaker 1: No way it was meant to be.
Speaker 5: It was mister Dunlop, So I kind of figured all
Speaker 5: this was really meant to be for me, but it
Speaker 5: wasn't until I read this Princess Magazine story. There was
Speaker 5: four girls magazine stories, and this one particular one was
Speaker 5: called Princess Magazine and the story was about a young
Speaker 5: girl who has found trained and taken to this place
Speaker 5: called Wimbledon, where she played on this magical state court
Speaker 5: and she won and I thought, oh wow, that sounds amazing,
Speaker 5: But I didn't know if that place was for real
Speaker 5: until somebody told me he said, yes, it's in England, London.
Speaker 5: So after that, every time I hit the ball against
Speaker 5: the wall, I used to pretend I was there on
Speaker 5: that magical center court at Wimbledon, and every night when
Speaker 5: I went to sleep, I would dream about playing on
Speaker 5: that magical senate court. So was that dream that kept
Speaker 5: me going right up until the time I went to Sydney,
Speaker 5: And was the townspeople that actually took a hat around
Speaker 5: and raised funds for me to go to Sydney. So
Speaker 5: that were the first people to sort of help me
Speaker 5: achieve my dream, and that was the policeman, the banker.
Speaker 5: I used to call the busher, the baker, the candlestick maker,
Speaker 5: but there it was a policeman, it was a baker,
Speaker 5: and it was a hardware man. And they were the
Speaker 5: people that really got me here today. Otherwise they wouldn't
Speaker 5: be here. So that's what makes this special even more
Speaker 5: special for me, is because I'm able to by becoming famous,
Speaker 5: I can help other young kids achieve their dreams too.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow, isn't that just incredible? Yeah? Can I have a feel? Actually,
Speaker 1: it's actually quite incredible to think.
Speaker 4: No, wonder your hand eye, your volleys were incredible just
Speaker 4: by playing by that.
Speaker 5: Oh thank you.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 5: When we've been running my husband and I ran the
Speaker 5: national camp, state camps, come and try days all around
Speaker 5: Australia since two thousand and five. And when I go
Speaker 5: to certain communities or see Aboriginal kids playing for the
Speaker 5: first time, they're all very shy, very scared, and they
Speaker 5: just sit there and look at you, and so I
Speaker 5: tell them my story of how I started and everything.
Speaker 4: It is incredible And it was like Wimwood and was
Speaker 4: almost like Disney but it was a.
Speaker 1: Real place for you.
Speaker 4: But let's go back to from Burrellen and you mentioned
Speaker 4: just before how you then moved to Sydney.
Speaker 1: What was that move to Sydney like for you? Terrifying?
Speaker 5: Actually, at first all the townspeople bought me a new
Speaker 5: suitcase and clothes and everything for the flights. And then
Speaker 5: when I got there in Sydney at the airport, Missus
Speaker 5: Edwards and her daughter Patricia picked me up at the
Speaker 5: airport and I was very shy, very scared, wouldn't say
Speaker 5: booed anybody until we got to the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Speaker 5: and I said, gee, we don't have to pay on
Speaker 5: our bridge and that's a four mile quick outside Brollin.
Speaker 5: And then and I also remember during that time, I
Speaker 5: was the happiest when I was actually playing tournaments. So
Speaker 5: I remember when we went to travel to Newcastle for
Speaker 5: the Matara Festival then and Missus Edwards took us with
Speaker 5: a girl from Gundi, guy Francis Laugh and Patricia. Anyway,
Speaker 5: we used to take turns in making tea. So I
Speaker 5: went around the corner and started making the tea and
Speaker 5: next minute, Evan, why are you taking such a long
Speaker 5: time I said, it takes a long time to get
Speaker 5: these leaves out of these stupid little bags. I'd never
Speaker 5: seen a tea bag before, so or I guess from
Speaker 5: the very beginning, it's all been about education, and that's
Speaker 5: been a very big part of my whole life.
Speaker 1: Really.
Speaker 5: My mum always wanted us to go to school, and
Speaker 5: we didn't miss out in school in any days. And
Speaker 5: then when I went to Sydney, even though I was
Speaker 5: really homesick and everything, and I cried and live every
Speaker 5: other night, what I kept dreaming about was that dream.
Speaker 5: Was that dream that kept me going, got me over
Speaker 5: the homesickness and everything, and as soon as I got
Speaker 5: onto the courts, I was completely happy. I was at home.
Speaker 5: I always figured, you know, this is my own little world.
Speaker 5: No one could touch me. This is my own world,
Speaker 5: and I love it and I want to achieve that dream.
Speaker 4: Well, let's talk about those dreams and the Grand Slams
Speaker 4: then called. At the age of nineteen, you did win
Speaker 4: the French Open singles, and you won the Australia and
Speaker 4: Open doubles with Margaret Court. In nineteen seventy one, you
Speaker 4: won the Wimbledon singles title. As Lockie mentioned, earlier. But
Speaker 4: then you went back in nineteen eighty and you won
Speaker 4: wimbled and again that time as a mother.
Speaker 1: What was it like?
Speaker 4: And you became the first mother then to win in
Speaker 4: the title in sixty six years, which is just incredible.
Speaker 1: But what was it like winning.
Speaker 4: Your first Wimbledon title and then going back and winning
Speaker 4: Wimbledon the second time as a mother?
Speaker 5: Well? I think the first time, you know, I remember
Speaker 5: being up the top of the dressing room, walking down long, long,
Speaker 5: long corridor, walking downstairs, then another long corridor, and then
Speaker 5: sitting in a room opposite with your opponent. That first
Speaker 5: year I went there and her name was Pitches Bartkowitz.
Speaker 5: What a name from America. And so when you sit there,
Speaker 5: there was this big clock. All you get here is
Speaker 5: the ticking of the clock. So I'm sitting there quiet
Speaker 5: to talk. So by the time I got out, I
Speaker 5: looked up, saw all the people, looked up once, never
Speaker 5: looked up again. I just wanted to get off that
Speaker 5: court as soon as possible.
Speaker 1: So this is the.
Speaker 5: Second round, and they don't normally in those days put
Speaker 5: a young girl on center court for the first time
Speaker 5: their first year there.
Speaker 1: But what I didn't know that.
Speaker 5: I was written about a lot about in England and
Speaker 5: through Europe and the world, basically before I even got there.
Speaker 5: So so my coach said said, okay, we'll put you
Speaker 5: in the plate event for first and second round losers,
Speaker 5: and maybe you'll get used to the atmosphere and the
Speaker 5: crowd and everything. So I say, okay, you know, I
Speaker 5: just like playing. So I won that plate event. Then
Speaker 5: it must have worked because the next year I came back,
Speaker 5: I won the French and then was feeling great, and
Speaker 5: then went to Wimbledon and got through to the final
Speaker 5: against Margaret Court, who was number one in the world
Speaker 5: in those days, and she beat me most of the
Speaker 5: time in Australia, but I did beat her a couple
Speaker 5: of times and I thought, oh, maybe I could do
Speaker 5: a right at Wimbledon. Anyway, when I was playing her,
Speaker 5: I was feeling terrific. I was just so confident and
Speaker 5: so at home on that court. But then I sensed
Speaker 5: she's not playing as well as she normally does, so
Speaker 5: I took advantage of that. Anyway, I finally won, and
Speaker 5: I thought, yay, I achieved my dream, just like that,
Speaker 5: just like that Princess magazine story. So ever since, our
Speaker 5: motto was dream. Believe learn achieved. That's my whole life
Speaker 5: and what we're doing here tonight, I'm achieving that dream again.
Speaker 5: But anyway, so I came off the court and ended
Speaker 5: up winning, shook hands and everything and was all excited,
Speaker 5: and then sort of later on I was thinking, Oh,
Speaker 5: she really didn't play that well. Then I found out
Speaker 5: she was pregnant, and I thanked Barry since and because
Speaker 5: I know what that feels like. I played the US
Speaker 5: Open and was I got to the final four years
Speaker 5: in a row, and this one particular year I was.
Speaker 5: I was playing a started off great, then my legs
Speaker 5: got really heavy, my timing went off and everything, and anyway,
Speaker 5: I came off, found out I was pregnant. Anyway, So
Speaker 5: but but I made it into truvial pursuit. Who were
Speaker 5: the two I'll ask you this question, who were the
Speaker 5: two players who were runner up in the US Open
Speaker 5: four times? So as myself and Beyond Borg, and I
Speaker 5: did better than Beyond Borg, though I was consistent.
Speaker 1: I did it in a row. That is awesome.
Speaker 4: And this is why I just absolutely love talking to you,
Speaker 4: because every time your storytelling I learned something new. We
Speaker 4: were chatting back stage before I said it, I said,
Speaker 4: every time we chart, I think I know everything about Yvonne,
Speaker 4: and then I learned something more and more.
Speaker 1: Just incredible. The storytelling is awesome.
Speaker 4: Let's talk Australian Open, because you won it four times
Speaker 4: nineteen seventy four, seventy five, seventy six and seventy seven.
Speaker 4: Talk about playing in Australia and what it was like
Speaker 4: to win at your home Grand Slam.
Speaker 5: I was the happiest person playing at home, and obviously
Speaker 5: I love playing on grass courts and all the championships
Speaker 5: then in those days in every state were played on grass,
Speaker 5: and so to be able to win at home in
Speaker 5: front of my home crowd was probably one of the
Speaker 5: highlights of my whole tennis career, and even even in
Speaker 5: nineteen seventy seven, as you were reminded me of Roger
Speaker 5: and I. After Roger and I got married, we went
Speaker 5: and trained in Fiji in the heat in the middle
Speaker 5: of day to try and get used to their heat
Speaker 5: in Australia, and so when I got back and was playing,
Speaker 5: I just didn't bother me one bit. But I think
Speaker 5: that was really the highlight because that was the first
Speaker 5: Grand Slam Australian Open Grand Slam that have won as
Speaker 5: a mother, everybody gets a little confused and think that
Speaker 5: a it was Wimbledon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so just so everyone knows.
Speaker 4: In nineteen seventy seven the Australian Open was actually played twice.
Speaker 4: It was played once in January, and with scheduling changes,
Speaker 4: it was actually played again in December. And Yvonne and
Speaker 4: Roger had Kelly, their daughter in May of nineteen seventy seven,
Speaker 4: So in December, even when I won the Australian Open Championships,
Speaker 4: which is just incredible.
Speaker 5: I think motherhood toughened me up a bit.
Speaker 1: It certainly does.
Speaker 4: In twenty twenty two, someone we both know very well,
Speaker 4: Ash Party won It won the Australian Open. Hush Barty,
Speaker 4: it's the Australian Open champion. It was such a beautiful surprise,
Speaker 4: especially being backstage Ash not knowing that you were going
Speaker 4: to be there. It was all a bit of a
Speaker 4: hustle and bustle to get you there.
Speaker 1: Then she wins. I have a little surprise.
Speaker 4: Put your hands together for Evon Gullagon Collie. But how
Speaker 4: special was that moment to be able to present that
Speaker 4: trophy to her?
Speaker 5: It was amazing. I had called her before the tournament started.
Speaker 5: I said I won't be able to make it because
Speaker 5: I've got pneumonia, and so I was at home recovering
Speaker 5: but watching her play of the whole two weeks and
Speaker 5: suddenly I had a call from Craig Carley and said, Evon,
Speaker 5: I said, how are you feeling? And I said, well,
Speaker 5: I've been having my and and appse every day and
Speaker 5: I feel fine. And so he invited not just myself
Speaker 5: but my husband and my son to help with Roger
Speaker 5: with his wheelchair and so on, and I said, yes,
Speaker 5: I definitely want to go. And it was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 5: They hid us at the Australian Open. They hit us
Speaker 5: so that nobody would see us, and so they snuck
Speaker 5: us in the back way and someone was in this
Speaker 5: room another room watching it on TV and tells you one.
Speaker 5: So that was fun. I really enjoyed that. It was
Speaker 5: a real surprise for both of us.
Speaker 4: Really, yeah, I know it meant a lot to Ash. Okay,
Speaker 4: So since you retired from that incredible career we've just
Speaker 4: talked about, you've spent a lot of time with family
Speaker 4: and also supporting First Nations communities.
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about your work.
Speaker 5: Well, we even before we formed a foundation.
Speaker 1: We meaning my husband.
Speaker 5: When I came back from America in ninety one, my
Speaker 5: mom died and I thought, that's it. You know, I've
Speaker 5: got to stay at home with my family. And when
Speaker 5: I rode back, I said, I want to do what
Speaker 5: the townspeople did for me. So Roger went ahead and
Speaker 5: he organized, you know, these whole all these trips, come
Speaker 5: and try days, state camps, national camps, and ran the
Speaker 5: whole thing. And and he's here tonight. Thank you, Roger, and.
Speaker 1: Roger around of applause. If you can believe it, it's.
Speaker 5: We've been married fifty years.
Speaker 1: A week ago.
Speaker 5: Uh so, so I got to hang in there for
Speaker 5: the for the hunt somehow.
Speaker 4: Congratulations. That is an incredible achievement in itself. And tonight
Speaker 4: we're raising funds for the Eyvon Goolagong Cally Scholarship, a
Speaker 4: collaboration between the Australian Tennis Foundation and the Evon gul
Speaker 4: Go Cali Foundation.
Speaker 1: Talk to us a.
Speaker 4: Little bit about how the scholarship it will change a
Speaker 4: person's life.
Speaker 5: Oh definitely. Well, I mean I know that our program
Speaker 5: has changed a lot of lives. What we did was
Speaker 5: we picked the kids that really shine and you know,
Speaker 5: they really try it life and so on, not just
Speaker 5: the best tennis players, although we will take them anyway.
Speaker 5: What we do is that we we pick them out
Speaker 5: from the com and dry days. And we followed that
Speaker 5: if they stay in school, they get to the state
Speaker 5: camps and the same thing with the national camps if
Speaker 5: they stay in school. So it was very important to
Speaker 5: concentrate on education and so that has been going on
Speaker 5: for a long time and I'm just so pleased that
Speaker 5: Tennis Australia we're kind of partnering now in doing the
Speaker 5: same thing all around around Australia. So it gives me
Speaker 5: great pleasure to be able to do this. I enjoy it.
Speaker 5: But the best part about it, I think is that
Speaker 5: you create a whole family from all around Australia, you know,
Speaker 5: and that's the fun part. So I'm really enjoying that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, keep that ever round of course for that because
Speaker 4: I have seen also firsthand the work that all of
Speaker 4: our team and your team has done.
Speaker 1: It's been incredible.
Speaker 4: If we could just finish lastly, if you look back
Speaker 4: over the years of playing tennis and the years since,
Speaker 4: I know what has brought you so much joy in tennis.
Speaker 5: I think first winning my first Grand Slam as a mother,
Speaker 5: I think that brought me the most joy, and then
Speaker 5: winning as a mother winning the first time winning Wimbledon
Speaker 5: was absolutely amazing, creating and actually you know, letting that
Speaker 5: dream happen, and then I think, you know, with and
Speaker 5: then winning as a mother the second time at Wimbledon.
Speaker 5: I remember that day because it was against Chris Evatt,
Speaker 5: by the way, and I remember that day because the
Speaker 5: officials came up to me didn't say congratulations, he said
Speaker 5: and did you know you're the first mother since doros
Speaker 5: A Land the Chambers in nineteen fourteen.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you. He didn't even say well done or
Speaker 1: anything well play.
Speaker 5: But anyway, that was a real experience and that bought
Speaker 5: me so much joy.
Speaker 4: Oh, will you bring so much joy to so many people, Yvonne,
Speaker 4: Thank you for sharing your story tonight and continue to
Speaker 4: not just inspire First Nations people, but people are everywhere.
Speaker 4: You're one of the true legends of our sport. There
Speaker 4: is no doubt about it. So can everyone please give
Speaker 4: a huge round of applause to our guest of honor,
Speaker 4: yvon Polagone Corley.
Speaker 3: Well, viv Yvon mentions the joy of winning wimbled and
Speaker 3: she brought so much joy to people who have watched her.
Speaker 3: I never got to watch her live, but I've watched
Speaker 3: lots of highlights of her. Her gracefulness, her anticipation, her creativity,
Speaker 3: the way she flowed across the court. Just a wonderful
Speaker 3: player to watch. And not only was she a beloved
Speaker 3: figure here in Australia, but she had a global fan
Speaker 3: base and people remember her so fondly and it was
Speaker 3: really cool to revisit those moments in her career.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and speaking of joy, what about that moment the
Speaker 2: Australian Open in twenty twenty two when it was you know,
Speaker 2: it was already such an incredible achievement having watched Ashbardy
Speaker 2: win her home title, but then Eyvon came out and I,
Speaker 2: you know, she spoke about it had been kept this
Speaker 2: huge secret, and yeah, I think we were as surprised
Speaker 2: as anyone. And I'm not sure that I've ever felt,
Speaker 2: you know, so great watching a moment in Australian tennis.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it really goosebumps going back and watching that. We'll
Speaker 3: be back again next week with another episode of the
Speaker 3: sit Down, Please subscribe so you never miss an episode
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Speaker 3: leave us a rating or a review, we'd love that too.
Speaker 3: See you next week, viv, See you then, Matt,