Lila McGuire on her big break starring as tennis ace and Indigenous Australian trailblazer Evonne Goolagong

Landing the title role in Goolagong was a breakthrough for Australian rising star Lila McGuire, who charts tennis legend Evonne Goolagong’s rise on the court and her fight against racial barriers as an Indigenous woman. On the tennis court, Evonne Goolagong is widely recognised as one of the sport’s greatest players. She won the French Open in 1971 aged 19, became the first mother to win Wimbledon when she triumphed on grass for the second time in 1980, reached number one in the world and collected a total of seven singles majors – and 14 overall – in an era when her competition included fellow greats Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Chris Evert. But away from the sport, her impact and legacy are even greater after she became a trailblazer for Indigenous Australians – work that continues through the Evonne Goolagong Foundation. Among Goolagong’s many admirers are rising acting star Lila McGuire, who plays the tennis star in a three-part television biopic – called Goolagong – and has now been nominated for two prizes at the 2026 Logie Awards, which each year recognise the best in Australian television. She will find out if she has won either the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent or the Silver Logie for Best Lead Actress in a Drama at a ceremony in Sydney on August 16. “Honestly, I just feel so incredibly lucky, like I lucked out with the crew and the cast and everyone who was working … Continue reading Lila McGuire on her big break starring as tennis ace and Indigenous Australian trailblazer Evonne Goolagong →