A year after Evonne Goolagong Cawley had won her first Wimbledon and French Open titles, she came to Adelaide where Di Berkinshaw held the No. 1 ranking. As such she was invited to practice with the new Australian star.
To be invited as a practice partner to Evonne Cawley and Andre Agassi perhaps didn’t add any Australian tennis ranking points at the time, but they remain memories of rich experiences for Di Berkinshaw.
A year after Evonne Goolagong Cawley had won her first Wimbledon and French Open titles, she came to Adelaide where Di Berkinshaw, SA’s No. 1 ranked female player at the time, was invited to practice with the new Australian star.
In Newcastle, she was also invited to be a hitting partner with Andre Agassi. It is presumed it was part of his lead-in preparations for the Australian Open.
Di Berkinshaw stood out as the State’s No. 1 player for seven years from 1971 to 1977.
Interestingly, that flourishing period followed the birth of her young children, in contrast with most women who gave up playing sport either upon marriage or the arrival of children.
Interestingly, that flourishing period followed the birth of her young children, in contrast with most women who gave up playing sport either upon marriage or the arrival of children.
She had an auspicious start to her senior career, when at age 19, she held a 3-0 lead against Billie Jean King in the SA Open in 1965.
But it was at her peak through the 70s that in the 1971-72 season, she was nominated for the News Caltex Sportswoman of the Year.
Overseas, she won national titles in Belgium, Switzerland and Fiji, the latter being an invitational tournament for players all over the world.
Of note, in 1976 Di won the National Cleo Max Factor Tournament in Melbourne, for which the prizemoney was $5,000 plus a new Holden Gemini.
All up, Di Berkinshaw (nee Bonn) won more than 100 titles throughout her junior and senior career. She moved to Sydney in 1977, but she has rightly been inducted into Tennis SA’s Legends Club.
