Tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley has made the startling confession that she feared becoming a victim of Australia’s Stolen Generations before carving out one of the all-time great careers.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of Goolagong Cawley’s first grand slam success in Paris, but the former world number one admits her career was almost over before it began.

Figures state that between one in three and one in 10 Indigenous children in Australia were forcibly removed from their families and communities between 1910 and 1970.

Goolagong Cawley, who went on to win seven grand slam singles titles from 18 finals, said she was frighteningly close to becoming one of those children.

Evonne Goolagong Cawley

• Born in Griffith, NSW in 1951
• Women’s Singles – four Australian Opens, one French Open win, two Wimbledons
• Women’s Doubles – five Australian Opens, one Wimbledon
• Mixed Doubles – one French Open 
• World number one (two weeks in 1976) 
• Part of three Australian Fed Cup wins (1971, 1973, 1974)
• Inducted, Sport Australia Hall of Fame, 1985
• Inducted, International Tennis Hall of Fame, 1988
• Received ITF Philippe Chatrier Award for contributions to tennis, 2018 
• Australian of the Year, 1971
• Member, Order of the British Empire, 1972
• Officer, Order of Australia, 1982
• Companion, Order of Australia, 2018

The 69-year-old said the relief of avoiding being “stolen” offered her the freedom to play tennis without fear of failure.

“I just loved being there [on the court]. It didn’t matter where I was playing, really. I just felt I was very lucky to be there in the first place,” Goolagong Cawley told Tennis Australia.

“Lucky to be found in my home town, Barellan. Lucky not to be taken away … because I’ve had to hide a few times under the bed.

“We visited my cousin in Griffith, which is where I was born, in the mission there.

“Every time a shiny car would come down the road, my mum used to say, ‘You better run and hide. The welfare man’s going to take you away.’

“So I remember hiding very nervously under the bed because I didn’t want to get taken away.

“So I think that’s why losing a match never really bothered me. I just felt I was very lucky to be there in the first place to enjoy this wonderful game.

“And it was my own little world. I felt this is my world. No-one can touch me here.”

She was so untouchable that Goolagong Cawley won her first major on her French Open debut as a teenager in 1971 before backing up to claim the Wimbledon crown just a month later, then reigning again at The All England Club as a mother in 1980.

“That was my first grand slam so obviously that was a really big thrill for me and I just felt fantastic,” Goolagong Cawley said of her Roland Garros breakthrough.

She also won four Australian Open trophies, as well as six grand slam doubles titles and one mixed championship.

AAP