Evonne Goolagong Cawley

“I just have these lapses. Guess I'm stuck with it. But I play better when I get behind. I say to myself, 'Now I have to play well.'”

“I have won a few trophies in my time but I have never had a major event name their trophy after me.”

“I never think I'm going to lose.”

“Usually I have to leave parties early - just when the action is beginning.”

“People told me I made the game look easy and I didn't always look like I was trying my best, but I always was.”

“I love the atmosphere of shopping in London. Sometimes I just go into a boutique, not to buy but to listen to the music.”

“Losing isn't bitter because it's temporary.”

“Because I've had time off, I've learned to appreciate tennis more - to put something back into it.”

“When I went through some racism through my early days and I went back and told Mum... she said, 'Don't worry about that, they're just ignorant.'”

“My greatest high was to hit a ball well, to try to do it perfectly, to try different things, whether they came off or not.”

“I love to fish. I love the peacefulness of being around the water.”

“I know, everybody thinks that all Aussies love beer. I guess most of them do, but not me.”

“There is no higher honour in sport than being selected to represent your country and I have certainly taken great pride in always giving my best in my position as Fed Cup captain.”

“It's nice to know you're improving and getting better.”

“I guess I had that insecurity of missing out on the normal things that everybody else does. With all the traveling I was doing I felt I was leaving something behind.”

“I hope that I am helping to create an understanding and an awareness of what happened to the Aboriginal people.”

“I remember I hadn't bought anything for my Mum for Christmas and I actually won an iron, so I was excited that I could take that home for her.”

“I can't explain why I play belter when I am down. It's the challenge I suppose.”

“The white explorers had been my heroes. The Aborigines, I thought they were real savages. That was what I'd been taught and that's what I believed.”

“The most exciting match I ever played was the 1974 US Open final against Billie Jean King.”