Lara Meagher holds her trophy not far from the spot where her parents Clare and Cameron met. Photo: Supplied.
Sixteen-year-old Albury tennis prodigy Lara Meagher has claimed her first open title – exactly 20 years after her father won his maiden crown at the same tournament and met her mother in a moment that would shape their family’s future.
Third seed Lara defeated Melbourne’s Klaire Elkin 6–1, 6–0 in the women’s singles final at the Albury Easter Open 2026, capping a dominant long weekend in front of a proud and deeply connected crowd.
Watching on were her parents, Clare and Cameron, who fondly recalled the chance encounter at the 2006 tournament that led, ultimately, to Lara.
“I went up to get some money from Dad for lunch, while he happened to be talking to this guy from Canberra. Dad then left us and Cam and I started chatting,” Clare said.
“The following day I left to go to Europe for three months – to watch a friend play the French Open and Wimbledon.
“But we kept in touch while I was overseas, we reconnected when I came back and we got married 11 months later. The Easter tournament is pretty special for our family.”
That sense of history – and something close to fate – seemed to carry through as Lara produced the best tennis of her young career over the Easter weekend, cheered on by generations of family, including Clare’s father, legendary coach Phil Shanahan.
Lara boasts a remarkable tennis lineage. She is the great-grandniece of Margaret Court, who has won more grand slams than Novak Djokovic. Ms Court travelled to Albury earlier this year to support Lara when she won a doubles title in January.
“It feels amazing to finally win an open,” Lara said.
“I didn’t lose a set through the tournament, but I had a tough semi-final.”
Lara is known for her fierce backhand. Photo: Switched on Sport.
Clare said her daughter rose to the occasion.
“She played unbelievably; she executed the perfect grass court game. She’d been working so hard and it all came together on the day and she did it with all her family watching,” she said.
For Cameron, the victory brought back memories of his own breakthrough two decades earlier, when he was working as a development officer with Tennis ACT in Canberra.
“I’d been coming to the tournament for years and I’d lost the final two years before in a tight three-setter, losing 7-6 in the third. It was good to finally win it. I played [Clare’s brother] Mark Shanahan in the quarter-final and I met Clare, so what more could you ask for?” he said.
Lara’s win is just the beginning of what shapes as a promising career. She will next compete in an International Tennis Federation (ITF) event in Melbourne before heading to the United States.
“I’m going over to the John Newcombe ranch in Texas to train with them for three months,” she said.
Still in Year 11, she will balance her rising tennis ambitions with schoolwork.
“She’ll have two or three time slots at the ranch where she does all her schooling,” Cameron said.
But for now, the result stands as something more than just a title. Twenty years after a meeting that changed their lives, the Meagher family has come full circle – on the same courts, at the same tournament – with a new chapter written by the next generation.
