‘Unbelievable’: 50 years since Edo’s shock Open triumph
Darren Walton |
He remains, likely forever more, the lowest-ranked grand slam champion in tennis history, but Mark Edmondson would happily be replaced from one page in sport’s record books.
The Australian Open in January will not only mark the 50th anniversary of Edmondson’s extraordinary feat of winning his home grand slam as the world No.212.
The 2026 Open will once again dredge up Edmondson’s name as the last Australian to hoist the men’s singles trophy in Melbourne.
‘Edo’ will be courtside for the final and would love to present the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup to Alex de Minaur or another of the home hopes.
“It’s the highlight or one of the highlights of my career. Was a bit out of the blue,” Edmondson told AAP of his reflections half a century on.
“But the most reflective thing is sort of disappointment that an Aussie hasn’t done it since, an Aussie male hasn’t done it since.
“It’d be fantastic for an Aussie to win and fantastic for Aussie tennis.”
The big-serving star was initially surprised that no other Australian could win the Open again.
“Then it was nearly an annoyance that the press would ring me once a year like I’ve got this title that I’m going to lose,” the straight shooter said.
“I won in 1976. If someone else wins in 2026, they won in 2026. I haven’t lost anything. It’s just I won that time.
“I literally lost it in 1977 if you want to look at it like that.”
While Edmondson’s life-changing triumph may have been a shock, it was anything but a fluke.
After taking down the great Ken Rosewall in the semis, the then-22-year-old beat another former world No.1 and defending champion John Newcombe in the “Battle of the Moustaches” final.
The only other players in the past 65 years to roll the top two seeds en route to the AO title are Rod Laver, who defeated Roy Emerson and Neale Fraser in 1960, and Stan Wawrinka, the conqueror of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in 2014.
Elite company indeed.
“I reflect on an unbelievable week. It was surprising to everybody except me,” said Edmondson, who slayed four seeds in all.
“Well, it was a surprise that I beat Rosewall and Newcombe, but I’d been playing well for over six months.
“I qualified the previous year at the Australian Open and won a round, and I’d qualified that year at Wimbledon and won a round.
“I’d won the Tasmanian Open a month before. I was runner-up in the Queensland Open.
“I’d won the Queensland Open doubles, the NSW Open doubles prior to going to Melbourne, so I’d been playing well.
“I’d won six tournaments back to back, singles and doubles, in Europe before I came home.
“And that was, amazingly, on clay so I knew I was playing well.”
Still sporting his stylish handlebars moustache, Edmondson may not carry the profile of Newcombe, Rosewall or Australia’s other tennis legends.
But nor does he feel unappreciated.
“I don’t think about it, yeah,” the 71-year-old.
“All I wanted to do was be able to play tennis good enough to travel the world and pay for it.
“Pretty much what I wanted to do was play as long as I could, travel and maybe end up with enough money to buy a house with a swimming pool and a court and have a view of blue somewhere.”
Tick.
Despite injuries curtailing his career and leaving Edmondson wondering if there might have been more, he is more than satisfied with his accomplishments.
He reached No.15 in the world in singles after also making the 1982 Wimbledon semi-finals.
Edmondson also hit No.3 in the world in doubles – behind only arguably the all-time greatest pairing of John McEnroe and Peter Fleming – and played a pivotal role partnering Paul McNamee in helping Australia to a famous Davis Cup final victory over Sweden in 1983.
“So I achieved a lot and it was good. I don’t feel or never thought about feeling under-recognised or something,” he mused.
“If I was doing what I did in my career now, I’d be very, very rich as opposed to having other jobs. But we played at a different time.”
AAP
