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Margaret Smith Court (nee Margaret Jean Smith) (born July 16, 1942)
is a retired Australian professional tennis player, who was one of the most
successful players in the history of the sport. She was born in Albury, New
South Wales in Australia.
Biography
Margaret Smith began playing tennis at the age of eight and
was seventeen when she won her first of seven straight Australian Open singles
titles. In 1966 she retired, married Barry Court, and started a family. She
returned to tennis in 1969. She 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 a "boxed
set" of Grand Slam titles – ie., every possible title (singles,
same-sex doubles, and mixed doubles) from each Grand Slam event. The others
are Doris Hart and Martina Navratilova.
In 1979 Ms Court was inducted into the International Tennis
Hall of Fame and in January of 2003, Show Court One at Melbourne Park was
renamed Margaret Court Arena. Also in 2003, the Government of Australia honoured
her and fellow Australian tennis superstar Rod Laver by putting their images
on postage stamps.
Ms Court now lives in Perth, Western Australia, and runs
a Christian ministry. Her husband Barry's father Sir Charles Court and brother
Richard Court, were both Liberal premiers of Western Australia.
Career timeline
1963 - Her strong serve and forehand allowed her to become
the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon Championship and to win the
Grand Slam in mixed doubles with partner Ken Fletcher.
1966 - First retired.
1969 - Returned to tennis, winning three of the Grand Slam
singles events that year.
1970 - Won all four of the Grand Slam tournaments, defeating
Kerry Melville in the Australian Open final, Helga Niessen in the French
Open, Billie Jean King at the Wimbledon championships and Rosie Casals at
the US Open. Her Grand Slam achievement was a feat accomplished previously
by only one woman, Maureen Connolly, who did it in 1953 and since only by
Steffi Graf in 1988.
1973 - May 13 Margaret Court lost a nationally televised
tennis match to Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6–2, 6–1, despite
being the top-ranked women's player at the time. Billie Jean King beat Riggs
to even the score four months later.
Grand Slam titles
During her illustrious career, Ms Court won a record 62 Grand
Slam titles (24 singles, 19 doubles, 19 mixed) and was ranked No.1 in the
world seven times: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, and in 1973. Included
in her victories she was the singles champion of the four major tournaments:
Australian Open: 1960–66, 1969–71, 1973 (11 times)
French Open: 1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973 (5 times)
Wimbledon championships: 1963, 1965, 1970 (3 times)
US Open: 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973 (5 times)
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