Margaret Smith CourtAOMBE (born July 16, 1942) is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Australia. In 1970, she became the first woman during the open era to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same calendar year. Court won 24 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other player. She won 62 Grand Slam titles overall (24 singles, 19 women's doubles, and 19 mixed doubles), again, more than any other player. Many consider her the greatest female tennis player. The International Tennis Hall of Fame states, "There has never been a tennis player to match (her)."[1]
Biography
She was born Margaret Smith in 1942, in Albury, New South Wales, the youngest of four children of Lawrence Smith and Catherine Smith (née Beaufort). She began playing tennis when she was eight years old and was 17 when she won the first of seven consecutive singles titles at the Australian Championships in 1960.
After Wimbledon in 1966, Court temporarily retired from tennis. She married Barry Court in 1967 and became known as Margaret Smith Court or Margaret Court. She returned to tennis in 1968. She won all four Grand Slam singles titles in 1970. The next year, Court lost the Wimbledon singles final to Evonne Goolagong Cawley while pregnant with her first child, Daniel, who was born in March 1972. Court made a comeback the same year and played in the U.S. Open. Her second child, Marika, was born in 1974. Court started playing again but retired permanently in 1977 when she learned she was expecting the third of her four children.
Court is one of only three players to have achieved a career "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles, winning every possible Grand Slam title – singles, same-sex doubles and mixed doubles – at all four Grand Slam events. The others are Doris Hart and Martina Navrátilová. Court, however, is the only person to have won all 12 Grand Slam events at least twice. She also is unique in having completed a boxed set before the start of the open era in 1968 and a separate boxed set after the start of the open era.
Court is widely remembered for having lost a heavily publicized and U.S. televised challenge match to a former World No. 1 male tennis player, the 55-year-old Bobby Riggs, on Mother's Day, May 13, 1973, in Ramona, California. Court was the top-ranked women's player at the time, and it has been written that she did not take the match seriously, assuming that she would win without difficulty. Using a mixture of lobs and drop shots, however, Riggs beat her handily 6-2, 6-1. Four months later, Billie Jean King beat Riggs in the even more famous Battle of the Sexes match in the Houston Astrodome to even the score.
In January 2003, Show Court One at Melbourne Park was renamed Margaret Court Arena. Also in 2003, Australia Post honoured her and fellow Australian tennis Rod Laver by putting their images on postage stamps.
Court's has caused controversy by publicly condemning homosexuality.
In 2002 she said that "Lesbian tennis players 'snared' their counterparts into homosexuality".[3] Court was speaking in response to Damir Dokic's claim that he would kill himself if his tennis champion daughter Jelena announced that she was a lesbian. Court said gay men and lesbians commit "sins of the flesh" and can be "changed". She said that when the open tennis era came in "there was quite a lot of [homosexuality] in there" and that "Very young players would mix with a few of the older ones that were that way and they were sort of 'snared in with it'".[4]
Court was an outspoken campaigner against laws, passed in Western Australia in 2002, which gave gays and lesbians equal legal rights as de facto couples. [5]
1962 - Won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments.
1963 - Became the first Australian woman to win a singles title at Wimbledon. She and Ken Fletcher became the only team to win all four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles during the same calendar year.
1964 - Won three of the four Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments. Her women's doubles title at Wimbledon completed her career "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles.
1965 - Won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments and all four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, with three different partners.
1966 - Temporarily retired.
1969 - Won three of the four Grand Slam singles and mixed doubles tournaments.
1973 - Won three of the four Grand Slam singles and women's doubles tournaments. Lost her match with Bobby Riggs. Her women's doubles title at the U.S. Open completed a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles won exclusively after the start of the open era in 1968.
1975 - Played the final Grand Slam singles match of her career, losing to Martina Navratilova 6-2, 6-4 in a quarterfinal of the U.S. Open. Partnered with Virginia Wade at the U.S. Open to win her 62nd Grand Slam title and 19th Grand Slam women's doubles title, defeating Billie Jean King and Rosemary Casals in the final. This was Court's last Grand Slam title.
1977 - Played the final singles match of her career, defeating Greer Stevens 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 in the third round of the Virginia Slims of Detroit. Court defaulted the quarterfinal to Francoise Durr upon learning that she was pregnant with her third child.
Grand Slam titles and world rankings
Court won a record 62 Grand Slam titles, including a record 24 singles titles, 19 women's doubles titles, and a record 19 mixed doubles titles. She won 64 Grand Slam titles, including 21 mixed doubles titles, if the shared championships at the Australian Championships/Open in 1965 and 1969 are counted. The finals were not played because of bad weather. Court could have won even more mixed doubles titles had the event been held at the 1970, 1971, 1973, and 1975 Australian Opens.
Court won 62 of the 85 Grand Slam finals (72.9%) in which she appeared, including 24-5 (82.8%) in singles finals, 19-14 (57.6%) in women's doubles finals, and 19-4 (82.6%) in mixed doubles finals.
Court reached the finals in 29, the semifinals in 36, and the quarterfinals in 43 of the 47 Grand Slams singles tournaments she played during her career. Her won-lost record in Grand Slam singles tournaments was 210-23 .901 (47-5 at the French Championships/Open, 51-9 at Wimbledon, 51-6 at the U.S. Championships/Open, and 61-3 at the Australian Championships/Open). She won 11 of the 16 Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered beginning with the 1969 Australian Open and ending with the 1973 U.S. Open. She also won 11 of the 17 Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered beginning with the 1962 Australian Championships and ending with the 1966 Australian Championships. During her career, Court was 146-2 (98.6%) against unseeded players in Grand Slam singles tournaments.
Court is the only player to have won the calendar year Grand Slam in both singles and mixed doubles. She won the singles slam in 1970, the mixed doubles slam in 1963 with fellow Australian Ken Fletcher, and the mixed doubles slam in 1965 with three different partners (Fletcher, John Newcombe, and Fred Stolle).
Court won more than half of the Grand Slam events held in 1963 (8 of 12), 1964 (7 of 12), 1965 (9 of 12), 1969 (8 of 12), 1970 (7 of 11), and 1973 (6 of 11).
According to the end-of-year rankings compiled by the London Daily Telegraph from 1914 through 1972, Court was ranked No. 1 in the world six times: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, and 1970. Court also was ranked No. 1 for 1973, when the official rankings were produced by the Women's Tennis Association.
Career statistics
Court won more than half of the Grand Slam singles tournaments she played (24 of 47). Her career singles win-loss record was 1,167-105, for a winning percentage of 91.75 percent. In 1965 (107-8), 1968 (104-12), 1970 (113-6), and 1973 (100-5), she won more than 100 singles matches. During her career, she won more than 80 percent of her singles matches against top 10 players (297-73) and was the year-end top ranked player seven times.[6]
Note: The two shared mixed doubles titles at the Australian Championships/Open in 1965 and 1969 traditionally are not counted in Court's win total because the finals were never played. Otherwise, she would have 64 Grand Slam titles, 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, and 25 Grand Slam mixed doubles finals.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Note: The shared mixed doubles titles at the Australian Championships/Open in 1965 and 1969 traditionally are not counted in Court's Grand Slam win total because the finals were never played. Otherwise, she would have 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, which is reflected in the above table.
Court was 3-2 in finals, 5-4 in semifinals, and 9-2 in quarterfinals. Court failed to reach the quarterfinals only once, in 1962 during her second Wimbledon. After receiving a bye during the first round, Court lost to unseeded Billie Jean King in the second round.
Court was 5-6 in three set matches, 46-3 in two set matches, and 0-2 in deuce third sets, i.e., sets that were tied 5-5 before being resolved.
Court was seeded all 12 years she entered Wimbledon. (The tournament seeded only 8 players through 1976.)
Seeded #2 in 1961 (quarterfinalist), 1965 (champion), 1968 (quarterfinalist).
Seeded #5 in 1975 (semifinalist).
Court was 10-8 .556 against seeded players. She was 41-1 against unseeded players, her only loss occurring during the second round of the 1962 tournament against Billie Jean King.
Versus #1 seeds, Court was 1-0 (Maria Bueno (1965)).
Versus #2 seeds, Court was 2-1 (wins: Martina Navratilova (1975), Billie Jean King (1970); loss: Maria Bueno (1964)).
Versus #3 seeds, Court was 1-1 (win: Billie Jean King (1964); loss: Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971)).
Versus #4 seeds, Court was 1-4 (win: Darlene Hard (1963); losses: Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1975), Chris Evert (1973), Ann Haydon Jones (1969), Billie Jean King (1966)).
Against her major rivals at Wimbledon, Court was 3-2 versus Billie Jean King, 2-1 versus Christine Truman Janes, 1-0 versus Martina Navratilova, 1-0 versus Darlene Hard, 1-0 versus Karen Hantze Susman, 1-0 versus Nancy Richey Gunter, 1-0 versus Rosemary Casals, 1-1 versus Maria Bueno, 0-1 versus Ann Haydon Jones, 0-1 versus Chris Evert, and 0-2 versus Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
United States Championships/Open singles record
Court's overall win-loss record at the United States Championships/United States Open was 51-6 (89.5%) in 11 years (1961-1965, 1968-1970, 1972-1973, 1975). (Her win total does not include any first round byes.) Her only losses were to Martina Navratilova in 1975, Billie Jean King in 1972, Maria Bueno in 1968 and 1963, Karen Hantze Susman in 1964, and Darlene Hard in 1961.
Court was 5-1 in finals, 6-2 in semifinals, and 8-2 in quarterfinals. Court failed to reach the quarterfinals only once, in 1964 when she lost to Karen Hantze Susman in the fourth round.
Court was 9-3 in three set matches, 42-3 in two set matches, and 0-0 in deuce third sets, i.e., sets that were tied 5-5 before being resolved.
Court was seeded all 11 years she entered the United States Championships/United States Open.
Versus #5 seeds, Court was 2-1 (wins: Virginia Wade (1969), Billie Jean King (1965); loss: Maria Bueno (1968)).
Versus #6 seeds, Court was 2-0 (Nancy Richey Gunter (1969), Francoise Durr (1965)).
Versus #7 seeds, Court was 2-0 (Virginia Wade (1973), Christine Truman Janes (1963)).
Versus #11 seeds, Court was 0-1 (Karen Hantze Susman (1964)).
Against her major rivals at the United States Championships/United States Open, Court was 3-0 versus Nancy Richey Gunter, 2-0 versus Virginia Wade, 2-0 versus Rosemary Casals, 2-0 versus Francoise Durr, 2-0 versus Christine Truman Janes, 1-0 versus Chris Evert, 1-0 versus Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 1-1 versus Darlene Hard, 1-1 versus Billie Jean King, 1-2 versus Maria Bueno, 0-1 versus Martina Navratilova, and 0-1 versus Karen Hantze Susman.
French Championships/Open singles record
Court's overall win-loss record at the French Championships/French Open was 47-5 (90.3%) in 10 years (1961-1966, 1969-1971, 1973). (Her win total includes three walkovers but does not include any first round byes.) Her only losses were to Gail Chanfreau in 1971, Nancy Richey Gunter in 1966, Lesley Turner Bowrey in 1965, Věra Pužejová Suková in 1963, and Ann Haydon Jones in 1961.
Court was 5-1 in finals, 6-1 in semifinals, and 7-2 in quarterfinals. Court failed to reach the quarterfinals only once, in 1971 when she lost to unseeded Gail Chanfreau in the third round.
Court was 8-0 in three set matches, 39-5 in two set matches, and 2-0 in deuce third sets, i.e., sets that were tied 5-5 before being resolved.
Court was seeded all 10 years she entered the French Championships/French Open.
Court was 15-4 .789 against seeded players. She was 32-1 against unseeded players, her only loss occurring during the third round of the 1971 tournament against Gail Chanfreau.
Versus #9 seeds, Court was 1-0 (Norma Baylon (1965)).
Versus #13 seeds, Court was 1-0 (Lesley Turner Bowrey (1962)).
Against her major rivals at the French Championships/French Open, Court was 2-1 versus Nancy Richey Gunter, 1-0 versus Chris Evert, 1-0 versus Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 1-0 versus Maria Bueno, 1-0 versus Rosemary Casals, 1-1 versus Ann Haydon Jones, 1-1 versus Lesley Turner Bowrey, and 1-1 versus Věra Pužejová Suková.
Australian Championships/Open singles record
Court's overall win-loss record at the Australian Championships/Australian Open was 61-3 (95.3%) in 14 years (1959-1966, 1968-1971, 1973, 1975). (Her win total includes one walkover but does not include any first round byes.) Her only losses were to Martina Navratilova in 1975, Billie Jean King in 1968, and Mary Carter Reitano in 1959.
Court was 11-1 in finals, 12-0 in semifinals, and 12-1 in quarterfinals. Court failed to reach the quarterfinals only once, in 1959 during her first Australian Championships. Court lost to fourth seeded Mary Carter Reitano in the second round.
Court was 6-0 in three set matches, 51-3 in two set matches, and 2-0 in deuce third sets, i.e., sets that were tied 5-5 before being resolved.
Court was seeded 13 of the 14 years she entered the Australian Championships/Australian Open.
Seeded #1 domestic in 1965 (champion), 1966 (champion).
Seeded #2 overall in 1969 (champion).
Seeded #7 overall in 1960 (champion).
Seeded #7 domestic in 1968 (finalist).
Unseeded in 1959 (lost second round).
Court was 26-3 .897 against seeded players and 35-0 against unseeded players.
Versus #1 seeds (overall, domestic, or foreign), Court was 5-1 (wins: Billie Jean King (1969), Lesley Turner Bowrey (1968), Nancy Richey Gunter (1966), Maria Bueno (1965 and 1960); loss: Billie Jean King (1968)).
Versus #3 seeds (overall, domestic, or foreign), Court was 3-0 (Rosemary Casals (1968), Jan Lehane O'Neill (1963 and 1960)).
Versus #4 seeds (overall, domestic, or foreign), Court was 5-1 (wins: Karen Krantzcke (1970), Kerry Melville Reid (1973 and 1969), Yola Ramirez Ochoa (1962), Mary Carter Reitano (1960); loss: Mary Carter Reitano (1959)).
Versus #5 seeds (overall, domestic, or foreign), Court was 4-0 (Rosemary Casals (1969), Norma Baylon (1965), Robyn Ebbern (1965), Jan Lehane O'Neill (1962)).
Versus #7 seeds (overall, domestic, or foreign), Court was 1-0 (Madonna Schacht (1966)).
Versus #8 seeds (overall, domestic, or foreign), Court was 2-1 (wins: Karen Krantzcke (1973), Helen Gourlay Cawley (1971)); loss: Martina Navratilova (1975)).
Against her major rivals at the Australian Championships/Australian Open, Court was 5-0 versus Jan Lehane O'Neill, 4-0 versus Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 3-0 versus Kerry Melville Reid, 2-0 versus Maria Bueno, 2-0 versus Rosemary Casals, 2-0 versus Lesley Turner Bowrey, 2-1 versus Billie Jean King, 1-0 versus Judy Tegart Dalton, 1-0 versus Francoise Durr, 1-0 versus Nancy Richey Gunter, and 0-1 versus Martina Navratilova.
Australia
