His mammoth effort at a Wagga Wagga tennis tournament was not bad for a someone who grew up near Bombala with no coaching to fall back on.

Now Roberts and the late Canberra tennis administrator Graham Bartlett have been recognised for their service to tennis with induction into the Tennis ACT Walk of Fame on Saturday night.

Roberts was one of the region's finest players for a stretch spanning three decades having won a raft of singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles in Canberra from 1949 to 1963.

His prowess on court saw Roberts lock horns with the likes of Jack Crawford, Neale Fraser, Frank Sedgman and Ken Rosewall.

But the peak?

"The highlight of my career was playing four world champions in four sports. I don't know if anyone has ever done that," Roberts said.

For beyond tennis he clashed with Walter Lindrum in billiards, Hashim Khan in squash and Miklos Szabados in table tennis.

Roberts, now blind but still boasting every bit of his larrikin aura, said he was "pretty lucky" to have had such a career as he received his award in a nursing home this week.

"It means quite a fair bit, there's not too many that have been inducted into the walk of fame. It means a lot to me, it's something to brag about I suppose," Roberts said.

"My brother Cres was a great help to me. I felt sorry for him because I used to be able to beat him. For years we were No. 1 and 2 in the ACT.

"He beat me in the final one year, and after I had to give up, he won the titles for a couple of years.

"He and I more or less practiced together for all of our life."

Bartlett has been honoured for his service as a tennis administrator, and one needn't look any further than the clubhouse at the Forrest Tennis Club for an indication of his impact.

The clubhouse is named in his honour after he spent 33 years as secretary and three as president while also serving as treasurer (from 1956 to 1962) and secretary (from 1963 to 1970) for the ACT Tennis Association.

"From what everybody says, he was just lovely, quiet and humble. He was one of those quiet achievers," Tennis ACT director Colin Adrian said.

"He has provided so much administrative support, he was a qualified accountant and his skills in getting tennis up and running in Canberra were second to none.

"He played tennis all his life, but he wasn't necessarily a top tennis player. He did a lot of work on the administrative side.

"The awards cover not only playing, but coaching, administration, umpiring, the whole gamut of things in tennis."

Meanwhile, world No. 27 Nick Kyrgios won the ACT player of the year gong, while rising stars Annerly Poulos and Charlie Camus claimed the junior athlete of the year awards with both juniors ranked No. 1 in their age group in Australia.

Matthew Leggett was recognised as the most outstanding athlete with a disability after breaking into the top 200 of the ITF wheelchair rankings.