“It’s good to have you back, Gong.” Following a fiercely contested final, the world’s No I woman player Martina Navratilova had nothing but praise for her veteran opponent, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
By Alan Clarkson
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on November 29, 1982
Champion greets Cawley’s comeback
“It’s good to have you back, Gong,” Martina Navratilova told Evonne Cawley as they shook hands over the White City centre court net after the final of the $125,000 NSW Building Society Open tennis yesterday.
“Competition is a lot stiffer, but a champion is a champion no matter what era.” Evonne Cawley and Martina Navratilova on November 28, 1982.Credit:Antonin Cermak
Navratilova, the world’s No I woman player, improved her incredible 1982 tournament record by beating Cawley 6-0 3-6 6-1 in a remarkable mixture of a final.
The win, and a later doubles victory, lifted Navratilova’s tournament earnings this year to $1,194,055 and stretched her singles wins to 83 from 85 matches.
After a quiet beer and a slice of pavlova at the end of her press interview, Cawley referred to Navratilova’s comment, which obviously expressed the feelings of the tennis public.
“I really appreciated what Martina said,” Cawley added, without being aware of other comments Navratilova made during her press interview.
Asked if she thought Cawley could fight her way back to be in the world’s top 10, Navratilova said: “She is there already as far as I am concerned.
“She might be 20 or whatever on the computer, but the way she is playing right now she is in the top 10, and it is just a matter of time before it is official.
“If she can keep free of injuries there is no reason she cannot be in the top 10, or even the top five, within the next few months.
Devastating: Martina Navratilova. Credit:Antonin Cermak
“It is tougher these days than it was five or 10 years ago because there are so many players capable of beating you.
“Competition is a lot stiffer, but a champion is a champion no matter what era.”
Cawley let her guard down a little to reveal one of the spurs that has made her so determined in her comeback.
“Each year I’ve come back I have been injured and some people write you off completely,” she said. “I had to prove a point to some people that I can do it if I am fit and have a fighting chance.
“But some do not give you that chance and when you’re trying to get back to get fit, before you know it they’re saying: ’She’s had it. She can’t do this, she can’t do that”.
“I must admit it’s frustrating being Australian when people don’t give you a fighting chance.
“I have proved to myself what I am capable of doing. It is just a matter of continually playing a lot of matches and getting stronger.”
It appeared that the final would be over in record time when Navratilova, in devastating mood, broke Cawley’s service three times to win the first set 6-0 in 18 minutes.
“She just went crazy in the first set and she did not miss a thing,” Cawley said.
Proved a point: Evonne Cawley.Credit:Antonin Cermak
The crowd, as usual, were right behind their champion as she tried to recapture a little of the past in her first final for four years.
She played some superb tennis in the second set, serving with more precision, hitting her ground strokes with much more authority and putting away some fine volleys.
She broke Navratilova’s service in the fourth game and the crowd’s support became more intense as they virtually willed her to hang on to take the set.
She did, to become the first player in 15 matches to win a set from the Wimbledon champion.
But the glory was short-lived. Navratilova slipped into another gear and swept through the final set, taking Cawley’s service in the second and fourth games after surviving a break point on her own service in the first game.
Asked what happened to her in the second set, Navratilova laughed and said: “I went walkabout.”
The doubles final was a magnificent clash with Navratilova and Pam Shriver beating Eva Pfaff and Claudia Kohde 6-2 2-6 7-6.
The West German pair had two breaks in the final set.
