Helen Gourlay Cawley (''née'' Gourlay; born 23 December 1946) is a retired

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Personal

Helen Gourlay was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. She married Richard Leon Cawley in January 1977, and married William Timothy Cape in October 1986.

Career

Cawley reached the singles final of two

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

tournaments, losing the 1971

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

and the December 1977

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

to countrywoman

Evonne Goolagong Cawley Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...

(no relation). An operation on her elbow sidelined her for 10 months in 1973. In women's doubles, Cawley was a four-time winner of the

(1972, 1976, 1977 (January), 1977 (December)). She won

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1977 partnering

JoAnne Russell JoAnne Russell (born October 30, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. With playing partner Helen Gourlay Cawley, she won the Wimbledon ladies' doubles title in 1977. They beat the team of Chris Evert and Rosie Casals in the ...

and was the runner-up there in 1974 with

Karen Krantzcke Karen Krantzcke (1 February 1946 – 11 April 1977) was an Australian tennis player. She achieved a world top ten singles ranking in 1970. In her short career, she made the quarterfinals or better at each of the four Grand Slam championships in ...

. Gourlay was twice the runner-up at the French Open in 1971 with Kerry Harris and 1977 with Rayni Fox. In 1977, Gourlay played in four of the five Grand Slam Women's Doubles finals (the Australian Open was contested twice), only failing to reach the US Open final, where she lost in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

with JoAnne Russell.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runner-ups)

Doubles (5 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Note:

is occasionally credited incorrectly with winning the 1977 Ladies Doubles event at Wimbledon, due to the confusion regarding the married name of her compatriot Helen Gourlay who in fact took the trophy. Both women were listed in tournaments as Mrs. R. Cawley (Goolagong was Mrs. R.A.Cawley and Gourlay Mrs. R.L.Cawley). Goolagong Cawley did not participate at Wimbledon 1977.

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

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

Coaching

Gourlay was coached by Brian Hudson for over 10 years. She lived with Brian, his wife Beryl and their children for three years while he coached her for free at his Granville (Sydney) tennis courts (1963-1965). Gourlay and Brian played mixed doubles at White City (1968) and Wimbledon (1972). Gourlay was also coached by Brian at his Terranora court leading into many international events, including Gram Slams. Brian coached Gourlay in the 1977 Australian Open, in which fifth-seeded Gourlay defeated second-seeded Sue Barker in the semi-final. Gourlay was one of the inaugural coaches of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

tennis program when it was established in Canberra in 1981. Gourlay left the program in 1986.

Recognition

In 1987 she was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame and in 2000 received the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gourlay, Helen 1946 births Australian female tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions Living people Wimbledon champions Sportspeople from Launceston, Tasmania Sportswomen from Tasmania Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Australian Institute of Sport coaches Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Tennis people from Tasmania