Australian Open 1976 & John Newcombe

Newk has just finished a quarter final match against Ross Case which he won 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.  Somehow, I was sitting in a box seat at court side and a family friend lent me his 35mm camera which was the first time I had used one.  From then on I was hooked.  In those years, the Australian Open was held at Kooyong Tennis Club on grass and it was a little like the old US open set up at Forrest Hills.  Just like Forrest Hills the club is still there.  In the years I lived in Melbourne I went to Kooyong many times to watch the Open since the tournament also coincided with the long summer school break. 

Newcombe made it to the final where he was beaten by fellow Aussie Mark Edmondson which must have been a disappointment because it was Edmondson's only major win.

Ashe at the Open 1972

Arthur Ashe, Forest Hills 1972

Another weekly image from my archive. Click on it to make it larger.

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

I now have an iPad version of this book for sale ($4.99) on the Blurb site which you can find here: STORE

I have to say, even on the iPad the book looks pretty good.

US Open Tennis 1972: Evonne Goolagong, Stan Smith, Billie-Jean King +more

US Open Tennis 1972, a set on Flickr.

Mr and Mrs PND are off to the US Open tomorrow. Here is the archive set from 1972 when PND Senior went to see some of the greatest players ever: Ashe, Laver, Evert, Smith. I've only been twice before (and the second time we were rained out). The first time in 1996 was fun and the tickets were $20 which is less than a hamburger will cost me tomorrow. We'll have fun nevertheless and if I can photo half as many stars as this set I will be pleased with myself .

Goolagong at Kooyong 1976

Evonne Goolagong Kooyong 1976

Through family friends we had members tickets to Kooyong and at the 75, 76 and 77 championships I was able spend many full days there.  On this day, for some reason I don't recall, Moms PND and I got to sit court side and someone let me use their 35mm camera.  They came out OK for a first time effort - just a bit dark.  Here Evonne has just destroyed another opponent and she went on to win the Open that year.  As with all these early tennis images the thing that strikes you is the lack of equipment and the big bags of stuff all the players carry with them now.  The funny thing here is she is clutching a couple of cokes for later as though that's all she's going to get!

A few years ago, (on a whim) I thought I would check what newspaper images existed for the championships in the years I went.  I checked out the News International newspaper site and sure enough I was able to find myself in the crowd sitting behind the server in some early round match in 1975.  Pretty funny. 

Another weekly image from my archive. Click on it to make it larger.

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

John Newcombe Kooyong 1976

John Newcombe Kooyong 1976

Another weekly image from the archive. Click on it to make it larger.
Close readers of the blog will recall the PND family lived in Melbourne Australia between 1973-77. The Australian Open was held over Christmas and New Years in those days and I was lucky enough to be able to attend many matches at Kooyong where it was held. This day was a little more special than normal because I and the parents were sitting in a court side box. Someone in the box loaned me their camera that day and for the first time I was allowed to shoot my own 35mm images. Unfortunately my parents didn't take the hint and I had to go back to my Kodak instamatic once the day was done.

Here John Newcombe - who may have been number one in the world at this point - has just beaten a young guy named Ross Case 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 in the quarter finals. Newk made it all the way to the final where he was beaten by Mark Edmonson.

The rest of the images are located here.

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

I now have an iPad version of this book for sale ($4.99) on the Blurb site which you can find here: STORE

I have to say, even on the iPad the book looks pretty good.