By Amy Sheehan and Freya Jetson
(ABC-Australia) In a second-hand antique cabinet tucked away in a corner of the
Theodore Tennis Clubhouse, a large silver trophy sits proudly on the top shelf.
Treasurer Kim Olsson is happy to show off the prized possession inside the
modest rural clubhouse in the central Queensland town, population 451, about
200 kilometres south of Rockhampton.
She puts on a pair of white gloves and carefully lifts the round trophy out of
the glass cabinet.
“We didn’t actually keep it here at first,” she says.
“We were really worried about how we were going to house it.”
Such is the club’s sentiment for the US Open men’s tennis championship cup.
Engraving on the front reads United States Lawn Tennis Association, Men’s
Singles Championship 1957.
It was won by former Theodore local Malcolm (Mal) Anderson, who donated
his Grand Slam memento to his old club as part of its centenary celebrations
in 2022.
“I thought Theodore Tennis Club is going to be there forever and ever
and that’s where I started my tennis,” Anderson says.
“I felt that it would be a good talking point when people come to play and visit
the club there.”
Win was Anderson’s ‘purple patch’
In the US Open championship’s 143-year history, only 12 Australian men have
won the title, with Lleyton Hewitt’s win in 2001 being the most recent.
Other champion Australians to lift the trophy include Roy Emerson, Rod
Laver, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe and Pat Rafter.
But Anderson’s achievement at the international tournament is especially
remarkable.
He was the first unseeded player in US Open history to win the title, beating
the world number one and fellow Aussie Ashley Cooper in a major upset.
Now almost 90, Anderson still has his winning racquet from the match — it
now hangs on the wall at his Albany Creek retirement village on the outskirts
of Brisbane.
“I think Ash thought he had an easy game because I wasn’t really
successful against him up until that time,” Anderson says.
“I just hit a very purple spot [and] I managed to win it in straight sets.
“I didn’t put the emphasis on that it was a Grand Slam tournament. I just
wanted to play tennis.
“I think if I’d have known what it meant, I would have got too nervous.”
A rangy serve-volleyer, Anderson was at his peak in 1957 and 1958, reaching
a career-high ranking of number two in the world.
In 1958, he made the finals of the US and Australian Open championships but
lost both to Cooper.
Anderson also represented Australia in the Davis Cup four times, winning it in
1957 and 1973.
Surprise donation
The US Open win catapulted Anderson to international stardom.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000 and the
Australian Tennis Hall of Fame the following year.
But no-one admires him more than the locals in his beloved hometown of
Theodore, where he was born on his parent’s cattle property in 1935.
Over the years he would often return to Theodore to run coaching clinics for
aspiring young players.
Ms Olsson says it was a shock when Anderson arrived with the trophy during
a visit in 2022 for the club’s centenary celebration, along with an Australian
doubles trophy he won with John Newcombe, and a Davis Cup replica.
“I just said, ‘Oh my God, are you sure?’,” she says.
“He just said to me, ‘Of course, I want you to have it here’.
“We were all stunned.”
The club currently has 123 members, with recent junior coaching clinics
drawing 70 children.
“Who knows? In 100 years time, we might have another player come out of
Theodore,” Ms Olsson says.
Anderson says he believes the winning formula for being a great tennis player
is 10 per cent talent and 90 per cent heart.
“You’ve got to love the game, if you’re going to improve,” he says.
“You’ve got to really want to be better and the ability will come with practice.”