Sitting at his home in Gulgong that he shares with his wife Margaret, Bill talked about how he was introduced to the game he loves so much.

Bill was a young teenager living in the coastal town of Kyogle and with little else to do on the weekend, Bill picked up tennis off the back of a suggestion by his brother. Bill was a natural and was soon competing against players much older than himself.

"It was a keen competition, we had about six courts going every Saturday afternoon. So, it'd be maybe 30 or 40 at the time," Bill said.

"Those little country towns didn't have a lot of other stuff happening. And so, any sporting activity like that was well patronised."

Bill's tennis career was always social, with little aspiration to climb the professional ladder, Bill actually took a decades-long break from tennis when he got married and started raising a family at 21. But remained a devoted fan, watching every game he could find on the telly.

Following his retirement to Northern Rivers town of Yamba Bill said he finally had some time to pick up a raquet again. "I thought, right, let's have a go at it and to my surprise I could still hit the ball fairly well," he said.

"It's like riding a bike."

These days the right-hander enjoys playing social tennis in Mudgee and Gulgong at least twice a week and has no intentions of giving it up any time soon. "I'll be batting on as long as I can," he said.

"I think I'll know when I need to pull out. You know your own body a bit, particularly with tennis. You can tell when your game is getting ridiculous."

Bill encouraged anyone with even a passing interest in the sport to get in touch with the their local club and have a hit.

"Look up the local club, ask a few questions and get stuck into it," he said.

"it's a game that anyone can play as long as they're reasonably fit."