14 September 2019 | Tennis ACT

Peter Roberts and Graham Bartlett, OAM have been inducted into the Tennis ACT Walk of Fame on Saturday at the Tennis ACT Awards 2019.

Established in 2016, the Tennis ACT Walk of Fame honours those whose exceptional contribution has brought recognition and esteem to them and to tennis in the Australian Capital Territory.

Roberts recorded an outstanding playing record between the 1940’s to 60’s.  He was the winner of seven ACT Resident’s singles, nine doubles, and two mixed titles.  Roberts played against the likes of Jack Crawford, Neale Fraser, Lew Hoad, Roy Emerson, Frank Sedgman, and Ken Rosewall.

Roberts was an outstanding sportsman, competing against not only some of Australia’s greatest tennis players,  but he also played against world champions in three other sports; Walter Lindrum in billards, Hashim Khan in squash and Michael Szabados in table tennis.

Fellow inductee Bartlett, has bee inducted for his lengthy administration contribution at both a club and association level.  A Secretary at Forrest Tennis Club for 33 years and President for three, the clubhouse is named in his honour.

Bartlett also played a huge role as the Treasurer of the ACT Tennis Association from 1956 to 1962, then Secretary from 1963 to 1970.  He also served on the board of the National Sports Club at Lyneham.  He was one of the founding members of ACT Veteran’s tennis and was tournament director of the ACT Open for 12 years.

The pair join previous inductees, Wally Masur, Keith Carnall, Ken Willis, Alison Ide, Ros Balodis, Charles Boag, and Bruce Larkham.

Proudly presented by ANZ, the Tennis ACT Awards celebrate the contribution and achievements of the tennis community in Canberra.  Fourteen awards were presented throughout the evening across club, coach, player and volunteer categories.

Queanbeyan Park Tennis Club took out the Most Outstanding Club award for the first time.  The club has seen an increase in participation, members and facility occupancy.  The club hosted numerous events throughout the year including their inaugural ‘Glow in the Dark’ tennis night where lights were switched off and courts were lit up be specialised ultra-violet black lights.

Geoff Wood from Barton Tennis Club was awarded the Volunteer Achievement Award, receiving a trip to Australian Open 2020 courtesy of ANZ.  A dedicated club member, Wood has been a constant and driving force behind the success of the club for over 40 years.

In the player awards, world No.27 Nick Kyrgios won the ACT Player of the Year, while rising stars Annerly Poulos and Charlie Camus won the Junior Athlete of the Year with both juniors ranked No.1 in their age group in Australia.  Matthew Leggett who recently broke in the top 200 for the ITF Wheelchair rankings for the first time won the Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability, while Pat Moloney was named Most Outstanding 35+ Tennis Senior.

In one of the most competitive categories of the evening, Frank Calabria claimed the Coaching Excellence – Club award, while Todd Larkham and Nathan Price received Coaching Excellence for High Performance and Talent Development respectively.

Giralang Primary School won the Most Outstanding School for the second time, with every student in the school exposed to the sport throughout the year.

A full list of award winners is below