Margaret Court

The Reverend
Margaret Court
AC MBE
Court in 2018
Country (sports) Australia
ResidencePerth, Australia
Born (1942-07-16) 16 July 1942 (age 82)
Albury, Australia
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Turned pro1960
Retired1977
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF1979 (member page)
Singles
Career titles192 (92 during the Open Era)
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1962)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenW (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973)
French OpenW (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973)
WimbledonW (1963, 1965, 1970)
US OpenW (1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973)
Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1963)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenW (1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973)
French OpenW (1964, 1965, 1966, 1973)
WimbledonW (1964, 1969)
US OpenW (1963, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1975)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsW (1973, 1975)
Mixed doubles
Career titles21 (7 during the open era)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenW (1963, 1964, 1965, 1969)
French OpenW (1963, 1964, 1965, 1969)
WimbledonW (1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1975)
US OpenW (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972)
Team competitions
Fed CupW (1964, 1965, 1968, 1971)

Margaret Court AC MBE (née Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (including 19 major women's doubles and 21 major mixed doubles titles) are the most in tennis history.

Court was born in Albury, New South Wales. In 1960, aged 17, she won the first of seven consecutive Australian Open singles titles. She completed the career Grand Slam in singles aged 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 in 1968. She completed the Grand Slam by winning all four major singles titles in 1970, part of a record six consecutive major singles victories. Court gave birth to her first child in 1972, but returned to tennis later in the year and won three major singles titles in 1973. She took similar breaks after her second and third children were born, retiring from the game in 1977.

Court is one of only three players in history (all women) to have won the "Boxed Set", consisting of every major title (the singles, doubles and mixed doubles). She is the only player in tennis history to complete a double Boxed Set. Court is also one of only six tennis players to win a double career Grand Slam in two disciplines, matching Roy Emerson, Martina Navratilova, Frank Sedgman, Doris Hart, and Serena Williams. 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)."[1] Evonne Goolagong Cawley called her the greatest female tennis player of all time.[2][3]

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

  1. ^ "Hall of Famers – Margaret Court Smith "The Arm"". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 19 November 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2007.
  2. ^ Schlink, Leo. "Legend Margaret Court tips Sam Stosur to win French Open". Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Margaret Court the greatest: Evonne Goolagong Cawley". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 January 2017. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.

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