Mark Edmondson

From an unlikely past Mark Edmondson rose to become one of the top-ranked players in Australian tennis history. Edmondson was born on June 24, 1954 in Gosford, New South Wales. He was a former janitor whose biggest claim to fame is winning the 1976 Australian Open, where he wore a pair of Dunlop Volleys, a brand of shoe popular in Australian.

Edmondson is currently the last Aussie to date to win the Australian Open after he won the title in 1976 against fellow Aussie John Newcombe. This success came just weeks after Edmondson stopped working as a window cleaner, a stint he did to raise enough money for him to play abroad. His victory at the Australian Open was particularly memorable because he was the lowest-ranked winner of a major in singles the introduction of ATP rankings in the 1973, when he ranked at a low 212.
Known more popularly as Eddo to tennis fans, Edmondson was famous for his powerful serve volleys. He was a doubles champion at the Australian Open from 1980 to 1984. He won the doubles title at the 1985 French Open and was a runner up in the tournament in 1983. Edmondson was also a player for the Davis Cup team from 1977 to 1985, racking up a 19-10 win/loss record. He reached a career-high ranking of no. 15 in 1981 in singles and a no. 4 in doubles in 1984.

Edmondson was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007 in a ceremony held at the Rod Laver Arena. He now resides in the Northern Beaches of Sydney and owns a tennis court building company as well as a company that supplies artificial sports surfaces.