Ken Rosewall auctioning his trophies & memorabilia

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/DWL273KSHU

Saw this on Reddit this morning.

Anyone know the story behind it? I'm at work just now so can't really take a deep dive into Google to find out more.

 

[Debraj]

For charity, probably.He is well-off financially,as far as i know.Of course,i could be wrong

 

[BeatlesFan]

He'll be 90 next year, he's selling all his personal memorabilia. No reference as to why on the auction site or Twitter.

 

[sureshs]

There is no wooden racket.

 

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

There is no wooden racket.

Liar, liar, pants on fire. No less than his slam-winning woodie from the 1970 US Open is available! The Slazenger Challenge which won the first ever tie-break in a major final! A truly historic racquet!

As penance, I expect you to submit a bid of at least AUD$2000 (auctioneer's upper estimate), to win this lot for... < checks notes > ...the glory of TTW.

 

[urban]

Seems that Hoad (and Vickers) is selling the trophies, a bit of irony. Muscles has been known for holding his things and his money together (he is now a bit heavier in the pocket than in his youth).He has invested cleverly in large immobiles in Australia. I think his son ran into financial and legal trouble a couple of years ago. But Kenny has no financial reasons to sell those trophies, unlike Borg or Becker. Anyway, those trophies cover a lot of his early triumphs in Australia. They would make a fan like Bobby proud..

 

[Kemitak]

Yeah don’t keep them in the family or anything. This is boomer-tier.

 

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

Seems that Hoad (and Vickers) is selling the trophies, a bit of irony. Muscles has been known for holding his things and his money together (he is now a bit heavier in the pocket than in his youth).He has invested cleverly in large immobiles in Australia. I think his son ran into financial and legal trouble a couple of years ago. But Kenny has no financial reasons to sell those trophies, unlike Borg or Becker. Anyway, those trophies cover a lot of his early triumphs in Australia. They would make a fan like Bobby proud..

I knew about his son's troubles, but it seems like Kenny himself ended up becoming entangled in it all. I can't find an article to link to which isn't paywalled, but basically he was pursued for AU$3.3 million by the liquidators of BBY (Glen Rosewall's company). Apparently Ken's company gave BBY a loan when they were struggling, but it wasn't enough to keep them afloat. Then BBY paid him back despite going insolvent. The liquidators went after 'Muscles' in 2017, and in 2022 a NSW Supreme Court ruling upheld their claim that he should repay the $3.3m.

I'd say that's the most likely reason, unfortunately.


EDIT: here's a non-paywalled story from 2020 in the Sydney Morning Herald which covers most of it up to that point:

BBY clients to finally claw back funds as tennis great Rosewall prepares for court

Ken Rosewall is facing a civil claim that alleges he received $3.3 million from BBY ahead of its collapse.

www.smh.com.au

 

[urban]

Several items could be interesting for researching pro tennis history, including lots Nr. 1116-1118 with so called Beecham and Brylcreem trophies for wins in 1960 to 1962. Maybe these were pro tournaments in Melbourne and Sydney or Adelaide. Interesting is, that the silverware for the Davis Cup replicas and the Wim and US National trophies are much higher in prize than the pro trophies of Newport or Longwood.

 

[Dan Lobb]

I knew about his son's troubles, but it seems like Kenny himself ended up becoming entangled in it all. I can't find an article to link to which isn't paywalled, but basically he was pursued for AU$3.3 million by the liquidators of BBY (Glen Rosewall's company). Apparently Ken's company gave BBY a loan when they were struggling, but it wasn't enough to keep them afloat. Then BBY paid him back despite going insolvent. The liquidators went after 'Muscles' in 2017, and in 2022 a NSW Supreme Court ruling upheld their claim that he should repay the $3.3m.

I'd say that's the most likely reason, unfortunately.


EDIT: here's a non-paywalled story from 2020 in the Sydney Morning Herald which covers most of it up to that point:

BBY clients to finally claw back funds as tennis great Rosewall prepares for court

Ken Rosewall is facing a civil claim that alleges he received $3.3 million from BBY ahead of its collapse.

www.smh.com.au

I pointed out this issue at the time, but many here were skeptical about it, claiming that Muscles was not liable for his son's problems.

Looks like that was wrong, and Ken, like his old pal Hoad, has had some financial problems.

Both Hoad and Rosewall dropped out of school to work for tennis companies, and their lack of financial expertise cost them in the end. They trusted other people with their money, always a mistake.

 

[urban]

On the other hand, there seem to be 413 items overall, mostly offered for between 20 and 200$. If i calculate a medium prize of say 200 $ for each item (which is pretty high), it would sum up to 80000 $ overall. I cannot believe, that such a sum would be a needed help for Rosewall, despite his own losses in the legal struggle of his son. From what i have read, Rosewall should be still very rich.

 

[BTURNER]

People who are in their final years often look to declutter their lives of 'stuff' for a smoother transition when they die. Even things that have held great importance, seem to look like 'clutter' as you move your focus to an afterlife. Your priorities change.

 

[Dan Lobb]

People who are in their final years often look to declutter their lives of 'stuff' for a smoother transition when they die. Even things that have held great importance, seem to look like 'clutter' as you move your focus to an afterlife. Your priorities change.

Typically, great athletes do not sell their trophies unless they have to.

 

[BTURNER]

Typically, great athletes do not sell their trophies unless they have to.

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