Quotes from Evonne Goolagong Cawley

Anyway, when I get sorta tense and start thinking about every shot, that's when my game falls apart.

I was protected from a lot of publicity and politics of life.

My goal is to share information and to educate. But am I an activist? No, no, no. I don't believe in pushing things on people.

I won Wimbledon when I was 19 and again after I had a child.

Nobody expected me to win Wimbledon. It was something to strive for.

Every time I hit the ball I would pretend I was on that magical court at Wimbledon. And then every time I went to sleep at night I would dream about playing at Wimbledon one day.

In 1971, big tournaments were very new to me. I just thought Wimbledon was one of the other tournaments.

Mum and Dad have come to Sydney to see me off on the two trips to Wimbledon. Each time I thought I mustn't cry 'cos that'll start Mum off. Each time I really bawled, and then she started up.

Some players feel that winning is everything and that losing is a disaster. Not me. I want the spectators to take home a good memory.

Neither winning nor losing means as much to me as knowing the crowd has enjoyed my match.

I don't know whether I'm half, quarter or what. I just know I'm aboriginal.

I'll get married when I'm sick of tennis.

A man could and would wipe me off the court. I really feel that the male is naturally superior to the female in all endeavors.

I'd much rather people knew me as a good tennis player than as an aboriginal who happens to play good tennis. Of course I'm proud of my race, but I don't want to be thinking about it all the time.

I don't like rushing, just like to sit down and rest before a match. Half the time I don't even look at the draw.

When we used the small-faced racquets and wood racquets, we had to use every part of the court.

I can think of matches I played where I played one or two points perfectly, and that gave me a thrill.

I play better if the matches are tight.

I first started out by hitting a ball against a wall when I was four.

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.

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.'

I had a bit of a reputation as a tomboy.

I was so hungry to learn my history, to really know who I was.

Racism is about education. Racism is ignorance.