Margaret Court

Margaret Court

Margaret Court, 1970

Nickname:

The Arm

Nation:

Australia

Birthday:

July 16, 1942

Size:

175 cm

1st professional season:

1960

Resignation:

1977

Playing hand:

Right

singles

Career title:

92 (in the Open Era )

Highest ranking:

1 (1973)

Grand Slam record

Grand Slam title: 00000 24

Australian Open	S (1960–1966, 1969–1971, 1973)
French Open	S (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973)
Wimbledon	S (1963, 1965, 1970)
US Open	S (1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973)

Double

Career title:

48 (in the Open Era)

Grand Slam record

Grand Slam title: 00000 19th

Australian Open	S (1961–1963, 1965, 1969–1971, 1973)
French Open	S (1964-1966, 1973)
Wimbledon	S (1964, 1969)
US Open	S (1963, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1975)

Mixed

Grand Slam record

Grand Slam title: 00000 21

Australian Open	S (1963-1965, 1969)
French Open	S (1963-1965, 1969)
Wimbledon	S (1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1975)
US Open	S (1961-1965, 1969, 1970, 1972)

Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Margaret Court AO (* 16 July 1942 as Margaret Jean Smith in Albury , New South Wales ) is a former Australian tennis player . She was one of the best professional players in history and she managed a grand slam in both singles and mixed games . In addition, over the course of her career, with 64 Grand Slam titles (singles, doubles and mixed), she has won more victories than any other tennis player in the four most important tournaments.

Life

Margaret Court began playing tennis at the age of eight. At the age of 13 she decided, by her own admission, to play more than just club championships. A little later she won a title at the "State Underage Championships". Australian tennis legend Frank Sedgeman encouraged her by saying that with her facilities she has what it takes to become the first Australian Wimbledon winner. This goal, so Smith later, gave her athletic ambition the decisive impetus.

In 1960, at the age of 18, she won her first title at the Australian Championships (since 1968 Australian Open ) - the prelude to a total of eleven Australian Singles Championships, of which she won the first seven in a row.

Court's strengths were primarily her athleticism and reach. At nearly six English feet tall, she was difficult to play off. She had a hard serve, a good flying ball and could hardly be passed on the net, a circumstance that soon earned her the nickname “the arm”.

In 1963 she redeemed her compatriot Frank Sedgeman's prediction. Due to her strong serve and forehand, Court became the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon title . Opponent was Billie Jean King , against whom Court had lost in the first round the year before. With her partner Ken Fletcher , Court also managed a Grand Slam in mixed.

From 1960 to 1966 she dominated world tennis and achieved 13 major victories. She won the Australian Championships seven times in singles, twice each in Paris (1962/1964), Wimbledon (1963/1965) and at the US National Championships (1962/1965).

In 1966 she surprisingly withdrew from competitive tennis, married Barry Court on October 29, 1967 in Perth and started a family. After she had achieved all of her athletic goals, she lost the motivation to continue to compete, she said in retrospect.

In November 1967, the Australian returned to the tennis courts at the NSW Championships in Sydney . In retrospect, she justified the step by saying that she did not want to withhold the tennis player from her husband. At the same time, she had a new goal in mind during her break, which brought her motivation back: to win the Grand Slam in the individual. In 1969, Court won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. Even if the Wimbledon Grand Slam title was missing, Court was soon number 1 again in women's tennis.

Record Grand Slam winners in women's singles
rank	Tennis player	title
1.	Australia Margaret Court	24
2.	United States Serena Williams	23
3.	Germany Steffi Graf	22nd
4th	United States Helen Wills Moody	19th
5.	United States Chris Evert	18th
5.	Czechoslovakia/ Martina NavratilovaUnited States	18th
7th	France Suzanne Lenglen	12
7th	United States Billie Jean King	12
As of January 28, 2017

In 1970 Court won all four Grand Slam titles of the calendar year, making it only the second woman after Maureen Connolly in 1953 to achieve this feat (in 1988 Steffi Graf was the third and so far last to win the Grand Slam). It was Court's overall most successful year on the tour. Of 27 tournaments played, the Australian won 21. 104 wins were compared to only six defeats. In the Wimbledon final, she defeated Billie Jean King with 14:12 and 11: 9. With a total of 20 wins in individual Grand Slam tournaments, she surpassed Helen Wills Moody's record . At a small tournament in North Carolina the paths of Court and her future challenger Chris Evert crossed for the first time . The 15-year-old won 7: 6 and 7: 6.

The Margaret Court Arena before the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park

By 1973 Court won four other Grand Slam tournaments in singles. It was the last year that the Australian dominated the scene; she won 18 of 25 tournaments, won 102 times with only six defeats, including the Australian, the French and the US Open. One of her most notable victories came at the French Open, where the 31-year-old Court managed to keep the 18-year-old Evert in check again 6: 7, 7: 6 and 6: 4. The future belonged to the young American, who replaced the Australian as the best player in 1974.

Court resigned for good in 1977 when she was expecting the third of their four children. In her outstanding career she won 24 Grand Slam titles in singles (record) and she was number 1 in the world in seven years: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970 and 1973. She also achieved singles, Doubles and the record number of 64 Grand Slam titles in mixed. She is (along with Doris Hart and Martina Navrátilová ) one of only three players who have won all four Grand Slam tournaments in all categories.

In 1979 Margaret Court was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Tennis . In 2007 she was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Australia . She lives in Perth , Australia.

Performing in Grand Slam tournaments

Grand Slam winner in tennis
year	Tennis player	competition
1938	United States 48 Don Budge	Men's singles
1951	Australia Ken McGregor Frank Sedgman Australia	Men's doubles
1953	United States 48 Maureen Connolly	Ladies singles
1960	Brazil 1960 Maria Bueno with various partners	Ladies doubles
1962	Australia Rod Laver	Men's singles
1963	Australia Margaret Smith Ken Fletcher Australia	Mixed
1965	Australia Margaret Smith with various partners	Mixed
1967	Australia Owen Davidson with various partners	Mixed
1969	Australia Rod Laver	Men's singles
1970	Australia Margaret Court	Ladies singles
1984	United States Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver United States	Ladies doubles
1988	Germany Federal Republic Steffi Graf	Ladies singles
1998	Switzerland Martina Hingis with various partners	Ladies doubles
! with various partners Golden Slam!

singles

competition	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	title
Australian Open	AF	S.	S.	S.	S.	S.	S.	S.	-	F.	S.	S.	S.	-	S.	-	VF	11
French Open	-	-	VF	S.	VF	S.	F.	HF	-	-	S.	S.	3	-	S.	-	-	5
Wimbledon	-	-	VF	2	S.	F.	S.	HF	-	VF	HF	S.	F.	-	HF	-	HF	3
US Open	-	-	HF	S.	F.	AF	S.	-	-	VF	S.	S.	-	HF	S.	-	VF	5

Double

competition	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	title
Australian Open	F.	S.	S.	S.	F.	S.	F.	-	HF	S.	S.	S.	-	S.	-	F.	8th
French Open	-	3	F.	F.	S.	S.	S.	-	-	F.	HF	HF	-	S.	-	-	4th
Wimbledon	-	F.	HF	F.	S.	3	F.	-	VF	S.	VF	F.	-	VF	-	VF	2
US Open	-	2	VF	S.	F.	-	-	-	S.	F.	S.	-	F.	S.	-	S.	5

Mixed

competition	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	title
Australian Open	-	-	S.	S.	S.	HF	-	F.	S.	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th
French Open	HF	-	S.	S.	S.	3	-	-	S.	HF	3	-	-	-	-	4th
Wimbledon	HF	-	S.	F.	S.	S.	-	S.	HF	2	F.	-	-	-	S.	5
US Open	S.	S.	S.	S.	S.	-	-	-	S.	S.	-	S.	F.	-	HF	8th

criticism

Court, which joined the Pentecostal movement and founded its own Pentecostal church in the early 1980s, has come under public criticism for homophobic statements, which are also presented by former tennis players such as Martina Navratilova , Billie Jean King and John McEnroe . Navratilova proposed that the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne be renamed Evonne Goolagong Arena . Court went on to say that the devil penetrates the media, politicians and education and aims to control "mind and mouth".

Web links

Commons : Margaret Court - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

WTA profile of Margaret Court (English)
ITF profile Margaret Court (English)
Profile of Margaret Court on "tennis.com.au" (English)
Margaret Court in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
Tagesspiegel: An idol becomes a burden

Individual evidence

^ Miss Smith to stay retired. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, December 12, 1966, accessed December 1, 2017 .
↑ Margaret Smith weds. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, October 30, 1967, accessed December 1, 2017 .
^ Margaret Smith back to tennis. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, October 7, 1967, accessed December 1, 2017 .
^ Margaret for London title. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, November 21, 1967, accessed December 1, 2017 .
↑ It's an Honor. Australia Government, accessed July 22, 2010 .
↑ ^a ^b Gerald Marzorati: Should Margaret Court's Name Be Removed from an Arena at the Australian Open? Accessed January 30, 2020 (English).
↑ An idol becomes a burden. Accessed January 30, 2020 .
^ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Margaret Court: Protest against the "crazy aunt". Accessed January 30, 2020 .
↑ Navratilova calls Court a "racist and homophobic person". ( Spiegel Online )
↑ Simon Kent: Tennis Great Margaret Court Decries Transgender Athletes, LGBT Rights as 'Of the Devil'. December 30, 2019, accessed January 27, 2020 .

personal data
SURNAME	Court, Margaret
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Smith, Margaret Jean (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Australian tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH	July 16, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH	Albury , New South Wales , Australia

[1] Miss Smith to stay retired. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, December 12, 1966, accessed December 1, 2017 .

[2] Margaret Smith weds. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, October 30, 1967, accessed December 1, 2017 .

[3] Margaret Smith back to tennis. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, October 7, 1967, accessed December 1, 2017 .

[4] Margaret for London title. In: The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia, November 21, 1967, accessed December 1, 2017 .

[5] It's an Honor. Australia Government, accessed July 22, 2010 .

[:0-6] Gerald Marzorati: Should Margaret Court's Name Be Removed from an Arena at the Australian Open? Accessed January 30, 2020 (English).

[7] An idol becomes a burden. Accessed January 30, 2020 .

[8] Süddeutsche Zeitung: Margaret Court: Protest against the "crazy aunt". Accessed January 30, 2020 .

[9] Navratilova calls Court a "racist and homophobic person". ( Spiegel Online )

[10] Simon Kent: Tennis Great Margaret Court Decries Transgender Athletes, LGBT Rights as 'Of the Devil'. December 30, 2019, accessed January 27, 2020 .