Mark Edmondson

Mark Edmondson

Weeks before the 1976 Australian Open, Mark Edmondson was washing windows and scrubbing bathrooms at the Sydney hospital where his sister nursed. Ranked No. 212, he beat 41-year-old Ken Rosewall in the Kooyong semifinals, then took the final from defending champion John Newcombe 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1, holding serve throughout in heat that sent 130 spectators to first aid. No lower-ranked player has won a major since rankings began in 1973, and fifty years on he is still the last Australian man to win the Australian Open.

A burly serve-and-volleyer with a bristling moustache, he never went as deep in singles again: semifinals at home in 1981 and at Wimbledon in 1982, a career-high No. 15, and 6 career titles around the 1 major. Doubles was the steadier trade: five major titles, four Australian Opens and a French, plus the doubles rubber with Paul McNamee when Australia beat Sweden in the 1983 Davis Cup final. The window cleaning lasted barely a week; the record has lasted half a century.