Tennis great and BGS Old Boy Roy Emerson visited Brisbane Grammar School's new tennis centre in January to offer some words of wisdom to the School's next tennis generation. Emerson, who left BGS in 1953 to tour overseas as a tennis player, was a prodigious talent while at school. Undefeated in GPS tennis matches, he was the best junior player in the country.
He turned that talent into success on the world stage, winning 12 singles and 16 doubles grand slams. He still holds a number of international tennis records, including the only male player to complete the career grand slam in singles and doubles, and was part of eight winning Davis Cup teams for Australia.
Emerson said he looked back fondly on his time at the School: "I really loved BGS and tried to take part in everything. I was on the School athletics and tennis teams and received some coaching from (BGS Old Boy) Gar Moon." As well as his talents on the tennis court, Emerson was a star athlete, breaking the U16 GPS long jump record with 6.27m in 1952.
Source: Grammar News Winter 2018. Read the original edition