The Forgotten Champion

On a summer's evening, beer to hand, the ageing athlete recalled how he became the last amateur to win the Australian Open.

On the grass courts of Kooyong Tennis Club Bill Bowrey beat Juan Gisbert of Spain 7-5 2-6 9-7 6-3 6-3. Bill is a modest man and reminded the listener the tournament took place in turbulent times and the defending champion and many other professionals were excluded.

In the late Sixties tennis was a world away from the revolutionary streets of Paris and the radical campuses of America but the leading players were determined to counter the culture of amateurism.

Roy Emerson had won the title five years in a row but, like Bill's other mates, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall and Lew Hoad he was now officially playing for money.

Titles and glory came to them all in the Open era but Tex (he once fell off a stationary horse in front of his tennis pals) never turned professional or won another Grand Slam.

Soon after his triumph in a Melbourne suburb he married Lesley Turner (twice a French Open champion), retired in 1972, became a coach, ran tournaments and raised a family.

Most tennis fans have never have heard of Bill but those who have heard him on Radio Wimbledon every year recognise a knowledgeable, perceptive and skilful broadcaster.

He knows what to say, how to say it and when to say it. He takes the job but never himself seriously and is a joy to listen to.

The BBC reportedly pay five-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe £200,000 for his contribution over the fortnight. Bill never threw tantrums, took drugs or was called an asshole by the novelist and tennis enthusiast Martin Amis but on the wireless he is sharper, funnier and warmer.


The kind of bloke who you would like to buy a beer.