Margaret Court

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Lore & Background

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).' Evonne Goolagong called her the greatest female tennis player of all time. Having grown up 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.

In Their Own Story

The grass at Wimbledon shimmered under the afternoon sun, but Margaret Court moved with an economy that defied the heat. Her service toss rose like a metronome—precise, deliberate. The serve cracked out, not just fast, but heavy, kicking up dust inches from the baseline. When her opponent finally scraped a return back, it was already too late; Court had vanished from the baseline and materialized at the net. She volleyed with the confidence of someone who knew the point was over before the ball left the racquet, her footwork light, her eyes locked on the target.

Reader's Guide

Court won 3 Wimbledon singles titles (1963, 1965, 1970) and 5 US Open singles titles (1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973). She 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. She won 62 of the 85 major 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 major singles tournaments she played. She is the only player to have won the Grand Slam in both singles and mixed doubles.

Did You Know?

• Court won the singles Grand Slam in 1970.
• She won the mixed doubles Grand Slam in 1963 with Ken Fletcher and again in 1965 with three different partners.
• Court lost a heavily publicized challenge match to 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in 1973.
• Show Court One at Melbourne Park was renamed Margaret Court Arena in 2003.