The family's court produced two professional players, Ellwood - Canberra's most successful female tennis player - and one of her older brothers, Ben.

It began when she first picked up a racquet at seven-years-old.

"The joke in the family is my eldest brother couldn't swim, so they thought 'we better put him into something else'. And he really loved tennis," she said.

"Having four older brothers helps. So my dad built a tennis court, and then it snowballed from there."

The 43-year-old is being recognised for her contribution to the sport with an induction into the Tennis ACT Walk of Fame.

She reached a career-high world ranking of 57 in 1997, after reaching the round of 32 at the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon, round of 16 at the French Open, and representing Australia at the Federation Cup and Hopman Cup.

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Ellwood boasts several career highlights on paper but her personal favourites were playing doubles, a Fed Cup win in South Africa and beating former world number one Jennifer Capriati.

"My last match was actually on the Melbourne Park centre court. It was a mixed doubles, so I thought that was a bit of a surprise to end up there," she said.

"The Capriati win ... I was a bit more shocked. It didn't dawn on me until I sat in my hotel room watching ESPN and they said 'Jennifer Capriati has lost to this unknown Australian' and I thought 'that's me'."

The Canberra-native has worn many hats since retiring from the pro-circuit in the early 2000s - with the latest being a junior coach and working at Radford College - and has witnessed the growth of the sport.

A lot of things have changed since her pro days, including the Lyneham courts and clubhouse, the prize money, the game itself and the pressure on players.

"Canberra punches well above its weight," she said noting Nick Kyrgios and Charlie Camus.

"Considering we're a smaller population, and we don't have the depths in competition that the other states have, I think we're doing very well."