Walk through Frew Park today and you’ll see a green pocket of Milton that’s built for everyday life — a place for picnics, play, and a casual hit of tennis. It looks and feels like a modern neighbourhood park, but it carries a history that made Milton one of Australia’s significant tennis venues.
Long before Brisbane’s major tennis events were staged at Tennyson, Milton hosted Queensland’s best-known tennis venue.
A suburb with tennis in its foundations
Milton has long been a suburb shaped by sport and big events. For much of the 20th century, tennis was part of that identity, and not just at a local level.
At the centre was the Milton Tennis Centre, which opened in 1915 and hosted major tournaments and international ties for many decades. Over time, the courts at Milton became known for staging major events, including Davis Cup ties, that drew attention well beyond the suburb itself.
If Queensland tennis had a long-term home base through much of the last century, Milton was it.
A history that’s well documented
Even now, Milton’s tennis story isn’t hard to trace because so much of it has been recorded and preserved.
The State Library of Queensland has highlighted the breadth of Queensland tennis material tied to this history, including photographs and printed items that reflect decades of tennis culture in the state.
Those records point to something larger than match results: tennis as a major part of public life and entertainment in earlier decades in Brisbane.
Milton’s place in the national tennis story
Milton’s tennis history also connects directly to the national timeline. The suburb hosted the 1969 Australian Open, known as the first Open-era edition of the tournament.
That alone places Milton among Australia’s landmark venues, not simply as a suburban facility, but as a site trusted to host one of tennis’s biggest events.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
From Milton Tennis Centre to Frew Park
By the end of the 1990s, the Milton Tennis Centre era had come to a close. But the story didn’t end with demolition or closure. Instead, the site shifted into a new chapter as a public park, while still keeping tennis woven into its identity.
Frew Park, formerly the Milton Tennis Centre’s site, retained its tennis connections, including the Roy Emerson Tennis Centre and Wendy Turnbull Green. The State Library of Queensland also notes that the site’s redevelopment included a new tennis centre with courts on the grounds of the former venue.
A legacy that still has a place in Milton
Today, Frew Park represents a different kind of sporting legacy — one that sits inside the daily life of the suburb rather than outside it. It’s a reminder that Milton’s tennis history isn’t only something to look back on.
The suburb still hosts tennis on the same site where Queensland’s biggest tennis venue once stood. The Roy Emerson Tennis Centre remains active as a competition venue and is listed as a Tennis Brisbane centre for players of all ages and standards.
Brisbane’s centre court may have shifted over time, but Milton’s tennis chapter still matters, not only for what happened here, but for how the suburb continues to carry that identity forward.
Published 15-Jan-2026
