аÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û

10 Unbelievable Facts about Margaret Court

Born on 16th July 1942, Margaret Court, also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired tennis player and former world No. 1.

1. Margaret is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time

Margaret Court- Author; Eric Koch- Wikimedia

Court won 24 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, 19 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, and 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

Her 24 Grand Slam singles titles and her total of 64 Grand Slam titles are the most in tennis history.

She is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She is currently a Christian minister in Perth, Western Australia.

2. Became the first woman during the opera era to win singles grand slam

Court in 1964- Author; Joop van Bilsen- Wikimedia

In 1970, Court became the first woman during the Open Era (the second woman in history after Maureen Connolly) to win the singles Grand Slam (all four major tournaments in the same calendar year).

Her all-surfaces (hard, clay, grass and carpet) singles career-winning percentage of 91.74 is the best of all time according to the Sporteology website.

She also became the first Australian woman to win a Grand Slam tournament abroad when she won the French and US Championships in 1962.

The next year, she became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon. Across singles, doubles and mixed doubles, she has won a remarkable 64 Grand Slams.

3. Margaret’s opera-era singles winnings are unmatched to date

Author; Eric Koch- Wikimedia

Her Opera era singles career winning percentage of 91.02% (608–60) is unequalled, as is her Open era winning percentage of 91.67% (11–1) in Grand Slam singles finals.

Her win–loss performance in all Grand Slam singles tournaments was 90.00% (207–23). She was 95.24% (60–3) at the Australian Open, 89.80% (44–5) at the French Open, 85.00% (51–9) at Wimbledon, and 89.66% (52–6) at the US Open.

She also shares the Open-era record for most Grand Slam singles titles as a mother with Kim Clijsters.

In 1973, Court set the record for most singles titles won in a single Grand Slam event, with 11 Australian Open wins.

This record was surpassed by Rafael Nadal in 2019 when he won his 12th French Open title, but remains a women’s record.

4. She is one of the only three women in history to win the grand slam boxed set

Author; Eric Koch- Wikimedia

Court is one of only three players in history (all women) to have won the “Grand Slam Boxed Set”, consisting of every Grand Slam title (the singles, doubles and mixed doubles).

She is however the only one in tennis history to complete a Multiple Grand Slam set, twice, in all three disciplines.

Interestingly, she won all 12 as an amateur and then after a period of retirement, returned as a professional to win all 12 again.

She is one of only six tennis players ever to win a Multiple Grand Slam set in two disciplines, matching Roy Emerson, Martina Navratilova, Frank Sedgman, Doris Hart, and Serena Williams.

5. Margaret Court is greatly recognized by the international tennis hall of fame

International Tennis Hall of Fame- Author; John Phelan- Wikimedia

The International Tennis Hall of Fame states “For sheer strength of performance and accomplishment there has never been a tennis player to match (her).”

In 2010, the Herald Sun called her the greatest female tennis player of all time, a view supported by Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

6. She founded a Christian ministry named after her in 1991

Having grown up as a Roman Catholic, Court became associated with Pentecostalism in the 1970s and became a Christian minister in 1991. She later founded Margaret Court Ministries.

7. Temporarily retired but when she came back won all four grand slam singles

Author; Joop van Bilsen – Wikimedia

After the tournament in Munich, Germany in August 1966, Court temporarily retired from tennis.

In 1967, she married Barry Court, whose father, Charles Court, and brother, Richard Court, were premiers of Western Australia.

She returned to tennis in November 1967, and in 1970 won all four Grand Slam singles titles. The next year, she lost the Wimbledon singles final to Evonne Goolagong Cawley while pregnant with her first child.

She made a comeback that year, playing in the US Open and throughout 1973. Her second child, Marika, was born in 1974.

She started playing again in November of that year. After missing most of 1976 after having her third child, she returned to the tour in early 1977 but retired permanently that year when she learned she was expecting her fourth child.

Her last Grand Slam tournament singles appearance was in the 1975 US Open. Her last Grand Slam tournament appearance overall was in the 1976 Australian Open in women’s doubles.

8. She once lost a very publicized tournament to a world number 1 male tennis player

Author; Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Jarkko Niemenen- Wikimedia

Court lost a heavily publicised and U.S.–televised challenge match to a former world No. 1 male tennis player, 55-year-old Bobby Riggs, on 13 May 1973, in Ramona, California.

She was the top-ranked women’s player at the time, and the New York Times claimed that she did not take the match seriously because it was a mere exhibition.

Using a mixture of lobs and drop shots, Riggs beat her 6–2, 6–1. Four months later, Billie Jean King beat Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes match in the Houston Astrodome.

9. A sports and entertainment complex in Melbourne park is named after her

Margaret Court Arena- Author; Tourism Victoria- Wikimedia

In January 2003, Show Court One at the sports and entertainment complex Melbourne Park was renamed Margaret Court Arena.

Since 2012, the arena has attracted calls for its name to be changed on the basis of Court’s statements against gay and lesbian rights.

10. Court was ranked number 1 six times

Author; Eric Koch- Wikimedia

According to the end-of-year rankings compiled by London’s Daily Telegraph from 1914 to 1972, Court was ranked world No. 1 six times. That is, in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969 and 1970.

She was also ranked No. 1 for 1973 when the official rankings were produced by the Women’s Tennis Association.