Margaret Court (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former
world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24
major
Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...
singles titles and total of 64 major titles (including 19 Grand Slam women's doubles and 21 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles) are the most in tennis history.
Court was born in
Albury, New South Wales
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...
. In 1960, aged 17, she won the first of seven consecutive
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...
singles titles. She completed a
Career Grand Slam at the age of 21 with her victory at
Wimbledon in 1963. Taking a brief hiatus in 1966 and 1967, Court played as an amateur until the advent of the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
in 1968. She completed a
Grand Slam by winning all four major singles titles in 1970, part of a record six consecutive major singles victories. She gave birth to her first child in 1972, but returned to tennis later in the year and won three Grand Slam singles titles in 1973. She took similar breaks after her second and third children were born, retiring from the game in 1977.
Court's 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. Her Open 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
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...
, 89.80% (44–5) at the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...
, 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 (3) 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
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...
in 2019 when he won his
12th French Open title, but remains a women's record.
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 the only player in tennis history to complete a
Multiple Grand Slam set, twice, in all three disciplines. Uniquely, she won all 12 as an amateur and then, after a period of retirement, returned as a professional to win all 12 again. Court is also one of only six tennis players to win a Multiple Grand Slam set in two disciplines, matching
Roy Emerson
Roy Stanley Emerson (born 3 November 1936) is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, for a total of 28 Grand Slam titles. He is the only male player to have completed a car ...
,
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
,
Frank Sedgman
Francis "Frank" Arthur Sedgman (born 29 October 1927) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Over the course of a three-decade career, Sedgman won five Grand Slam singles tournaments as an amateur as well as 22 Grand Slam double ...
,
Doris Hart
Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American tennis player from who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in ...
, and
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
. She also won the
Fed Cup with Australia on four occasions. 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
The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald ...
'' called her the greatest female tennis player of all time, a view supported by
Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Having grown up as a Roman Catholic, Court became associated with
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement in the 1970s and became a
Christian minister
In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...
in that tradition in 1991. She later founded Margaret Court Ministries.
Tennis career
Court was born in
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, the youngest of four children of Lawrence Smith and Catherine Beaufort. She has two older brothers, Kevin and Vincent, and an older sister, June Shanahan. A natural left-hander, she was persuaded to change to a right-hand
grip. She began playing tennis when she was eight years old and was 18 in 1960 when she won the first of seven consecutive singles titles at the
Australian Championships
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
.
She became the first Australian woman to win a Grand Slam tournament abroad when she won the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
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.
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
Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, ...
, 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, Daniel, who was born in March 1972. 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
The 1976 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Australia and was held from 26 December 1975 to 4 January 1976. It was the 64th edition of the Australian Open and t ...
in women's doubles.
Court is one of only three players to achieve a career "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles, winning every possible Grand Slam title—singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles—at all four Grand Slam events. The others are
Doris Hart
Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American tennis player from who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in ...
and
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
. However, Court is the only person to win all 12 Grand Slam events at least twice. She also is unique in having completed "boxed sets" both before the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
and after it began.
Court lost a heavily publicised and U.S.–televised challenge match to a former
world No. 1 male tennis player, the 55-year-old
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...
, on 13 May 1973, in
Ramona, California
Ramona is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 20,292 at the 2010 census.
The name ''Ramona'' also refers to an unincorporated community (with some plans to incorporate) that includes both the ...
. Court 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
Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...
beat Riggs in the
Battle of the Sexes
Battle of the Sexes refers to a conflict between men and women.
Battle of the Sexes may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Battle of the Sexes'' (1914 film), American film directed by D. W. Griffith
* ''Battle of the Sexes'' (1920 film), a 1920 Germ ...
match in the
Houston Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
.
In January 2003, Show Court One at the sports and entertainment complex
Melbourne Park was renamed
Margaret Court Arena
Margaret Court Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue located in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena, which was built in 1987 and redeveloped in the mid-2010s, has a capacity of 7,500.
History
Originally ...
. 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.
Playing style, Grand Slam titles and world rankings
During the 1960s, Court was considered to have a very long reach which added a new dimension to women's volleying. With a height and reach advantage and being extremely strong, she was very formidable at the net and had an effective overhead shot.
She was considered unusually mobile for her size and played an all attack, serve and volley style which, when added to her big serve, dominated conservative defensive players.
Part of what helped her win was her commitment to fitness training. Court was dubbed "The Aussie Amazon" because she did weights, circuit training and running along sandy hillsides. This training helped keep her relatively injury-free through most of her career.
Court won a record 64
Grand Slam tournament titles, including a record 24 singles titles, 19 women's doubles titles and a record 21 mixed doubles titles. The total includes two shared titles at the
Australian Championships/Open in 1965 and 1969. The mixed doubles finals of those years were not played because of bad weather and the titles are shared by both of the finalist pairs.
Court won 62 of the 85 Grand Slam tournament finals (72.9%) she played, 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 final in 29, the semifinals in 36 and the quarterfinals in 43 of the 47 Grand Slams singles tournaments she played. She won 11 of the 16 Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered, beginning with the 1969 Australian Open and ending with the 1973 US 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. She was 146–2 (98.6%) against unseeded players in Grand Slam singles tournaments.
Court is the only player to have won the Grand Slam in both singles and mixed doubles. She won the singles Grand Slam in 1970, the mixed doubles Grand Slam in 1963 with fellow Australian
Ken Fletcher and the mixed doubles Grand Slam in 1965 with three different partners (Fletcher,
John Newcombe
John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a fo ...
and
Fred Stolle).
Court won more than half of all the Grand Slam contests 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 London's ''Daily Telegraph'' from 1914 to 1972, Court was ranked world No. 1 six times: 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
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
.
Career timeline
*1959 – Competed at the
Australian Championships
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
for the first time losing in the second round against eventual tournament winner
Mary Reitano
Mary Carter Reitano (''née'' Carter; born 29 November 1934) is a former tennis player from Australia.
As a junior player she won the girls' singles title at the Australian Open, Australian Championships in 1951 and 1952.
Reitano won the sing ...
.
*1960 – Won her first singles title at the Australian Championships, but lost the junior girls final there to
Lesley Turner Bowrey.
*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 – After losing in August to
Vlasta Kodesova in the quarterfinals of a tournament in Munich, Germany, Court temporarily retired.
*1968 - Returned to match play in November 1967 at the
New South Wales Championships. She resumed playing a full schedule in 1968, where at the beginning of the season, she lost to
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...
in the finals of the Western Australia Championships and the Australian National Championships.
*1969 – Won three of the four Grand Slam singles and mixed doubles tournaments.
*1970 – Won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, defeating
Kerry Melville Reid
Kerry Melville Reid (née Melville; born 7 August 1947) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. During her 17-year career, Reid won one Grand Slam singles title and 26 other singles titles and was the runner-up in 40 singles to ...
in the Australian Open final,
Helga Niessen Masthoff
Helga Niessen Masthoff (née Niessen; born 11 November 1941) is a retired tennis player from West Germany. Her best Grand Slam singles tournament was when she reached the 1970 French Open final, losing to Margaret Court in straight sets. She ...
in the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...
final,
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...
in the Wimbledon final, and
Rosemary Casals in the
US Open final.
Maureen Connolly in 1953 and
Steffi Graf
Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and won 22 major singles titles, ...
in 1988 are the only other women who have won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments during the same calendar year.
*1971 – Won the Australian Championship for the 10th time. After losing in mid-July to Billie Jean King in the semifinals of a tournament in West Kirby, England, Court left the tour to prepare for the March 1972 birth of her first child.
*1972 – Returned to the tour in late July. Lost to Billie Jean King in the semifinals of the US Open.
*1973 – Won three of the four Grand Slam singles and women's doubles tournaments. Became the first mother in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
to win the Australian, French, and US Open championships. Lost her match with
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 amateur in 1939 and World No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...
. Her women's doubles title at the US Open completed a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles won exclusively after the start of the Open Era in 1968.
*1974 – Absent from the game until November because of the birth of her second child. Won the Western Australian Championships on her playing return and reached the final of the New South Wales Championships the following week.
*1975 – Played the final Grand Slam singles match of her career, losing to
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
in a quarterfinal of the US Open 6–2, 6–4. At her final Australian championships (played in December 1974), she suffered only her second defeat in the singles prior to the final in all her appearances at the event, losing to Navratilova in a quarterfinal. Having won the mixed doubles at her last Wimbledon (partnering
Marty Riessen
Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was rank ...
), she partnered with
Virginia Wade
Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all ...
at the US Open to win her 62nd Grand Slam title and 19th Grand Slam women's doubles title, defeating King and Casals in the final. This was Court's last Grand Slam title. Her last tournament of the year was in late September in Tokyo where she won the title.
*1976 – Court was absent from the game until late September due to the birth of her third child. Tokyo was her first tournament after returning to the tour, where she lost the final to
Betty Stöve. She finished the year by defeating
Sue Barker
Sue or SUE may refer to:
Music
* Sue Records, an American record label
* ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus
* "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie
Places
* Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits islan ...
in the singles final in Melbourne, Australia
*1977 – Played the final singles match of her career, defeating
Greer Stevens
Greer Stevens (born 15 February 1957) is a retired professional tennis player from South Africa.
Career
Stevens in 1980 reached a career high singles ranking of world No. 7 and the Wimbledon quarterfinals in both singles and doubles]. With B ...
in the third round of the
Virginia Slims Championships
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
of Detroit 5–7, 7–6, 6–3. Court defaulted the quarterfinal to
Françoise Dürr upon learning that she was pregnant with her fourth child.
Honours
*On 1 January 1967, she was made
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE), for her services to sport and international relations.
*In 1963 and 1970, she became winner of the ABC Sportsman of the Year Award.
*In 1970 she also won a Western Australian honour, the Walter Lindrum Award.
*In 1979, Court was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame.
*In 1985, Court was inducted into the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser t ...
and then elevated to Legend status in 1998.
*In 1993 in Melbourne, she was inducted into the
Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.
*In 2000, Court was awarded the
Australian Sports Medal for her impressive tennis career.
*In 2001, she was awarded the
Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...
for her service to Australian tennis.
*In 2001, she was inducted onto the
Victorian Honour Roll of Women
The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the celebrations of Victoria's Centenary of Federation.
Public nom ...
.
*In 2003 Court became the recipient of the 2003 Australia Post
Australian Legends
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
Award.
Australia Post
Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post ...
honoured her, together with fellow Australian tennis player
Rod Laver
Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...
by featuring her on
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
.
*In 2006, she was awarded the
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...
's (ITF) accolade, the Philippe Chatrier Award.
*In 2007, she was made an
Officer of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...
(AO), for her services to tennis, as a mentor and to the community.
*In 2021, she was advanced to a
Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), for "eminent service to tennis as an internationally acclaimed player and record-holding grand slam champion, and as a mentor of young sportspersons".
Ministry
Court was raised as a Roman Catholic but became involved with
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement in the mid-1970s. In 1983, she gained a theological qualification from the
Rhema Bible Training Centre, and in 1991 was ordained as an independent Pentecostal minister and so speaks publicly about her faith. She subsequently founded a ministry known as Margaret Court Ministries.
[Brian Baxter]
"Margaret Court's Word of Faith
", ''The Skeptics
Skeptics were a New Zealand industrial post-punk band from 1979 to 1990. They became notorious in 1987 for an unusually graphic music video entitled "AFFCO".
Early recordings
Skeptics' first recording appeared in 1982 on ''The Furtive Four Th ...
'', Vol 27 No 3, Spring 2007. In 1995, she founded a Pentecostal church known as the Victory Life Centre in Perth. She still serves as its senior pastor. Her television show, ''A Life of Victory'', airs on Sundays on the
Australian Christian Channel and locally in Perth on community television station
West TV. She has generally embraced teachings associated with the
Word of Faith
Word of Faith is a movement within charismatic Christianity which teaches that Christians can get power and financial prosperity through prayer, and that those who believe in Jesus' death and resurrection have the right to physical health. The ...
movement
[ and teaches her view of biblical doctrine.
In 1997, Court established Victory Life Community Services, later rebranded as Margaret Court Community Outreach (MCCO). In 2014 it was described by '']The West Australian
''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...
'' as "one of WA's biggest stand-alone food charities", supplying around 25 tonnes of food each week.
Since 2010, she has been the president of Victory Life International, a network of like-minded churches, and is a long-standing patron of the Australian Family Association
The Australian Family Association (AFA) is a conservative Christian political organisation. It was founded in 1980 by the National Civic Council's then president, B. A. Santamaria.
Beliefs and lobbying
The AFA states they were formed to "provi ...
and Drug Free Australia.
Controversy
Court has been a consistent critic of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
in Australia. In 2012, she opposed proposed same-sex marriage reforms. Court has been criticised for such statements by openly gay tennis players Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...
, Rennae Stubbs and Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
, and in 2012, an LGBT rights protest group called for the renaming of Margaret Court Arena
Margaret Court Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue located in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena, which was built in 1987 and redeveloped in the mid-2010s, has a capacity of 7,500.
History
Originally ...
.
Court was criticised in May 2017 after writing a letter to ''The West Australian
''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...
'' decrying Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
, the largest airline in Australia, for being a corporate supporter of same-sex marriage and saying that she would boycott the airline. The letter, and further follow-up interviews, again led to calls from some Australians and tennis players to rename the Margaret Court Arena. Some politicians, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, rejected calls for the change of name, saying the name celebrates Margaret Court as a tennis player. Writing in the wake of this incident, Russell Jackson noted that Court had always held controversial views, which he described as "stubbornly immovable", citing her support for apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
in 1970 ("South Africans have this thing better organised than any other country, particularly America") and her criticisms of Navratilova in 1990 ("a great player but I'd like someone at the top who the younger players can look up to. It's very sad for children to be exposed to homosexuality") as examples. He added that this and the similar incident from 2012 are calculated provocations, allowing Court to portray herself as the victim and use the publicity to her advantage, and show that "for better or worse, Court is now the principal architect of her own image".
On 23 January 2019, Anna Wintour
Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...
, in her keynote address for the Australian Open's Inspirational Series, renewed calls for the arena's renaming. Court responded by saying she was "disappointed" that someone "coming from America" was "unable to tolerate views that were not in line with her own" and " stelling us in this nation what to do". Later in the year, Court called on Tennis Australia
Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organises national and international Tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Australian Open S ...
to honour her and the 50th anniversary of her 1970 Grand Slam in the same way as it honoured Rod Laver earlier in 2019, arguing that the organisation should disregard her views on same-sex marriage as her tennis achievements are from "a different phase of my life from where I am now and if we are not big enough as a nation and a game to face those challenges there is something wrong." Tennis Australia issued a statement that it "recognises the tennis achievements of Margaret Court, although her views do not align with our values of equality, diversity and inclusion" and asserted that it is "in the process of working through" how Court's milestone might be included at the 2020 Australian Open. During the tournament, however, high-profile guests Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
and John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
paraded a banner calling for the Margaret Court Arena to be renamed in honour of four-time Australian Open champion Evonne Goolagong
Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.
At the age of 19, she won the French Open sing ...
.
In 2020, her Margaret Court Community Outreach charity was denied a Lotterywest
Lotterywest was established in 1932 as the Lotteries Commission of Western Australia, to run the lottery in Western Australia. It is referred to in the legislation as the Lotteries Commission. It distributes profits to a number of community bene ...
grant for a freezer truck on the basis of her public statements on gay people. She subsequently announced she would lodge a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission of Western Australia.
Portrayal in film
Jacqueline McKenzie
Jacqueline Susan McKenzie (born 24 October 1967) is an Australian film and stage actress.
Early life
Born in Sydney, New South Wales, McKenzie attended Wenona School in North Sydney until 1983 then moved to Pymble Ladies' College, where she ...
portrayed Court in the 2001 TV movie ''When Billie Beat Bobby
''When Billie Beat Bobby'' is a 2001 American sports comedy-drama television film written and directed by Jane Anderson that details the historic 1973 " The Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs and what le ...
''.
Jessica McNamee
Jessica McNamee (born 16 June 1988) is an Australian actress. She rose to fame in Australia playing roles in the Seven Network television programs '' Home and Away'' and ''Packed to the Rafters''. From 2014 to 2015, she starred as patrol officer ...
portrayed Court in the 2017 Hollywood film '' Battle of the Sexes''.
Grand Slam tournament performance timelines
Singles
Women's doubles
Grand Slam singles finals: 29 finals (24 titles, 5 runner-ups)
Records
* Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
All-time Grand Slam records
* These are women's standing records for all-time period in tennis history.
;Grand Slam records per tournament
Career tournament records
See also
* List of female tennis players
This is a list of female tennis players who meet one or more of the following criteria:
* Singles:
**Officially ranked among the top 25 by the Women's Tennis Association (since 1975)
**Ranked among the top 10 by an expert (e.g. A. Wallis Myers) ...
* List of Grand Slam related tennis records
* List of tennis rivalries
In tennis history there have been a number of notable rivalries. This is a list of some of the greatest rivalries.
For the pre-1991 eras, complete statistics on all matches is difficult to obtain in definitive form. In many years there were sign ...
* List of tennis tournaments
List of current and past men's and women's tennis tournaments.
Criteria for inclusion:
*The tournament is notable enough to have its own article on Wikipedia
*Historic tournaments are included if notability can be established by reliable third par ...
* List of WTA number 1 ranked players
The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis. The top-ranked player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the WT ...
* Tennis records of the Open Era – Women's singles
* World number 1 women tennis players from 1883–present
* Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final
* WTA Tour records
This is a list of Women's Tennis Association (WTA) records since its inception in June 1973. Some records additionally extend back a few more years in order to include the immediately preceding Virginia Slims Circuit era for completeness. The Virg ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
''She's Game: Women Making Australian Sporting History - Margaret Court''
from the Australian Women's Archives Project
*
*
Reverend Margaret Court AO, MBE
at Victory Life Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Court, Margaret Smith
1942 births
Living people
Australian anti-same-sex-marriage activists
Australian female tennis players
Australian Championships (tennis) champions
Australian Open (tennis) champions
Australian Pentecostal pastors
Companions of the Order of Australia
Converts to Pentecostal denominations
Converts to evangelical Christianity from Roman Catholicism
Women Christian clergy
French Championships (tennis) champions
French Open champions
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire
Sportspeople from Albury
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Sportswomen from New South Wales
Sportswomen from Western Australia
Tennis people from New South Wales
United States National champions (tennis)
US Open (tennis) champions
Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners
Wimbledon champions
Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
Tennis players from Perth, Western Australia
World number 1 ranked female tennis players