Few of us give the name Wimbledon Heights a second thought.

But the town, at the heart of Phillip Island, wedged in between Gap Rd and Ventnor Beach Rd, has famous links to the eponymous British tennis tournament.

Yes, Wimbledon Heights is named after Wimbledon grand slam championship.

But how was this link ever made?

According to local history buffs, former world number one tennis champ and Wimbledon winner Frank Sedgman – who has strong links to Phillip Island – developed the estate around the 1960s

The Australian Women’s Weekly, May 27 1959 edition, details the beginnings of Mr Sedgman’s interests in Phillip Island with the purchase of the Isle of Wight Hotel, with his business partners and fellow tennis players Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Tony Trabert, Pancho Segura, and Richard Gonzales.

“His (Sedgman’s) latest venture is a 100-roomed hotel with two of Victoria's most dilapidated tennis courts,” wrote the Women’s Weekly of the Isle of Wight purchase.

“The other partners have left the matter in his hands. Rosewall and Gonzales, in fact, signed over their share of the price without having seen even a photograph of the hotel.”
So it is no coincidence that among Wimbledon Heights’ roads you’ll find Laver Drive, Rosewall Court, and Hoad Street.