ABC to air Evonne Goolagong biopic

A three-part ABC TV biopic of Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the first Indigenous Australian to win a grand slam tennis tournament will screen in 2026.

Goolagong, produced by Werner Film Productions, is being filmed around Melbourne and in regional Victoria, with many famous matches of the 1970s and ’80s being recreated.

Goolagong Cawley is a Wiradjuri woman who  won seven grand slam singles titles – the Australian Open (four times), Wimbledon (twice) and the French Open – and seven doubles titles.

In 1976 she was ranked the No.1 female player in the world. She retired from professional tennis in 1985.

The Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club – former home of the Australian Open – and Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club are being used as locations, while a replica of Wimbledon is being created in Melbourne’s southern suburbs.

West Australian Lila McGuire, a Whadjuk and Wardandi Noongar woman, plays Goolagong, as she was known until her marriage in 1975 to British tennis player Roger Cawley.

McGuire is a graduate of Perth’s Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Marton Csokas plays Vic Edwards, who discovered Goolagong as a 12-year-old, became her coach and guardian.

An ABC statement said the story “will take us from the tiny NSW regional town of Barellan, where an eager eight-year-old Aboriginal kid first peered through the cyclone wire fence of a tennis court, to the centre courts of the world.

“Along the way, the obstacles will be immense. While the on-court success unites a nation, a deeply disturbing dynamic is playing out behind the scenes.”

Main photo:- Lila McGuire, will play Evonne Goolagong and Marton Csokas plays Vic Edwards, who discovered Goolagong as a 12-year-old, became her coach and guardian.