Margaret Court | ||
---|---|---|
Country | Australia | |
Residence | Perth, Australia | |
Date of birth | 16 July 1942 | |
Place of birth | Albury, Australia | |
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |
Weight | 149 lbs. (67.5 kg) | |
Turned pro | 1968 | |
Retired | 1977 | |
Plays | Right-handed | |
Career prize money | - | |
Singles | ||
Career record: | - | |
Career titles: | 92 during open era | |
Highest ranking: | 1 (1973) | |
Grand Slam results | ||
Australian Open | W (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973) | |
French Open | W (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973) | |
Wimbledon | W (1963, 1965, 1970) | |
US Open | W (1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973) | |
Doubles | ||
Career record: | - | |
Career titles: | 48 during open era | |
Highest ranking: | - | |
Mixed Doubles | ||
Career record: | {{{mixedrecord}}} | |
Career titles: | {{{mixedtitles}}} | |
Highest ranking: | {{{highestmixedranking}}} | |
Infobox last updated on: 27 January 2007. |
Margaret Jean Court AO MBE (born 16 July 1942, also known as Margaret Smith Court) is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Australia. In 1970, she became the first woman during the open era and the second woman ever 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. 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]
Born Margaret Jean Smith in 1942, in Albury, New South Wales, she was the youngest of the 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 1960 Australian Championships.
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 and 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 US 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, 13 May 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 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.
In 1979, Court was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
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.
As of October 2008, Court lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Her father-in-law, Sir Charles Court, and brother-in-law, Richard Court, were Liberal premiers of Western Australia.
Court is a Pentacostal Christian, having converted from Catholicism. In 1983, she gained a theological qualification from the Rhema Bible Training Centre and in 1991 was ordained a minister. Court subsequently went on to found a ministry known as the Margaret Court Ministries.[2]
Court currently runs the Victory Life Centre in Perth, Western Australia,[3] a Pentecostal church. Her television show, A Life of Victory, appears on the Australian Christian Channel.[2]
In 1990, Court said that Martina Navrátilová and other lesbian and bisexual players were ruining the sport of tennis and setting a bad example for younger players.[4] [5] [6]
In November 1994, when delivering a speech at Parliament House in Canberra, Court exclaimed that "Homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord! Abortion is an abomination to the Lord!"[2]
In 2002, Court said that homosexuals commit "sins of the flesh" and can be "changed".[7] She stated that when the open era started, "there was quite a lot of [homosexuality] in there" and added that "a few of the older ones ... were [homosexual]", with younger players being "sort of snared in with it".[7] These comments were made in the context of Damir Dokić's claim that he would kill himself if his high-profile professional tennis-playing daughter, Jelena, became a lesbian.[8]
Court campaigned against laws proposed and eventually passed by the Government of Western Australia in 2002 that gave gay people and lesbians equal legal rights as de facto couples.[7] In an interview she gave on Australian television concerning the laws, she expressed a belief that homosexuality could destroy families[9]
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%) 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. 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 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. 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 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, 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 World No. 1 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.
Court won more than half of the Grand Slam singles tournaments she played (24 of 47) and 192 of the 300 singles tournaments she played overall. Her career singles win-loss record was 1,177-106, for a winning percentage of 91.74 percent. She won at least 100 singles matches in 1965 (113-8), 1968 (107-12), 1970 (113-6), and 1973 (100-5). 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.[10]
Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
1960 | Australian Championships | Jan Lehane O'Neill | 7–5, 6–2 |
1961 | Australian Championships (2) | Jan Lehane O'Neill | 6–1, 6–4 |
1962 | Australian Championships (3) | Jan Lehane O'Neill | 6–0, 6–2 |
1962 | French Championships | Lesley Turner Bowrey | 6–3, 3–6, 7–5 |
1962 | U.S. Championships | Darlene Hard | 9–7, 6–4 |
1963 | Australian Championships (4) | Jan Lehane O'Neill | 6–2, 6–2 |
1963 | Wimbledon | Billie Jean King | 6–3, 6–4 |
1964 | Australian Championships (5) | Lesley Turner Bowrey | 6–3, 6–2 |
1964 | French Championships (2) | Maria Bueno | 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 |
1965 | Australian Championships (6) | Maria Bueno | 5–7, 6–4, 5–2 retired |
1965 | Wimbledon (2) | Maria Bueno | 6–4, 7–5 |
1965 | U.S. Championships (2) | Billie Jean King | 8–6, 7–5 |
1966 | Australian Championships (7) | Nancy Richey Gunter | walkover |
1969 | Australian Open (8) | Billie Jean King | 6–4, 6–1 |
1969 | French Open (3) | Ann Haydon Jones | 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 |
1969 | US Open (3) | Nancy Richey Gunter | 6–2, 6–2 |
1970 | Australian Open (9) | Kerry Melville Reid | 6–1, 6–3 |
1970 | French Open (4) | Helga Niessen Masthoff | 6–2, 6–4 |
1970 | Wimbledon (3) | Billie Jean King | 14–12, 11–9 |
1970 | US Open (4) | Rosemary Casals | 6–2, 2–6, 6–1 |
1971 | Australian Open (10) | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | 2–6, 7–6, 7–5 |
1973 | Australian Open (11) | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | 6–4, 7–5 |
1973 | French Open (5) | Chris Evert | 6–7, 7–6, 6–4 |
1973 | US Open (5) | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | 7–6, 5–7, 6–2 |
Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
1963 | U.S. Championships | Maria Bueno | 7–5, 6–4 |
1964 | Wimbledon | Maria Bueno | 6–4, 7–9, 6–3 |
1965 | French Championships | Lesley Turner Bowrey | 6–3, 6–4 |
1968 | Australian Championships | Billie Jean King | 6–1, 6–2 |
1971 | Wimbledon | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | 6–4, 6–1 |
Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
1961 | Australian Championships | Mary Carter Reitano | Mary Bevis Hawton Jan Lehane O'Neill |
6–4, 3–6, 7–5 |
1962 | Australian Championships (2) | Robyn Ebbern | Darlene Hard Mary Carter Reitano |
6–4, 6–4 |
1963 | Australian Championships (3) | Robyn Ebbern | Jan Lehane O'Neill Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–1, 6–3 |
1963 | U.S. Championships | Robyn Ebbern | Maria Bueno Darlene Hard |
4–6, 10–8, 6–3 |
1964 | French Championships | Lesley Turner Bowrey | Norma Baylon Helga Schultze |
6–3, 6–1 |
1964 | Wimbledon | Lesley Turner Bowrey | Billie Jean King Karen Hantze Susman |
7–5, 6–2 |
1965 | Australian Championships (4) | Lesley Turner Bowrey | Robyn Ebbern Billie Jean King |
1–6, 6–2, 6–3 |
1965 | French Championships (2) | Lesley Turner Bowrey | Françoise Durr Jeanine Lieffrig |
6–3, 6–1 |
1966 | French Championships (3) | Judy Tegart Dalton | Jill Blackman Fay Toyne |
4–6, 6–1, 6–1 |
1968 | US Open (2) | Maria Bueno | Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals |
4–6, 9–7, 8–6 |
1969 | Australian Open (5) | Judy Tegart Dalton | Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King |
6–4, 6–4 |
1969 | Wimbledon (2) | Judy Tegart Dalton | Patricia Hogan Peggy Michel |
9–7, 6–2 |
1970 | Australian Open (6) | Judy Tegart Dalton | Kerry Melville Reid Kerry Harris |
6–3, 6–1 |
1970 | US Open (3) | Judy Tegart Dalton | Rosemary Casals Virginia Wade |
6–3, 6–4 |
1971 | Australian Open (7) | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | Jill Emmerson Lesley Hunt |
6–0, 6–0 |
1973 | Australian Open (8) | Virginia Wade | Kerry Harris Kerry Melville Reid |
6–4, 6–4 |
1973 | US Open (4) | Virginia Wade | Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals |
3–6, 6–3, 7–5 |
1973 | French Open (4) | Virginia Wade | Françoise Durr Betty Stöve |
6–2, 6–3 |
1975 | US Open (5) | Virginia Wade | Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals |
7–5, 2–6, 7–6 |
Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
1960 | Australian Championships | Lorraine Coghlan Robinson | Maria Bueno Christine Truman Janes |
6–2, 5–7, 6–2 |
1961 | Wimbledon | Jan Lehane O'Neill | Billie Jean King Karen Hantze Susman |
6–3, 6–4 |
1962 | French Championships | Justina Bricka | Sandra Reynolds Price Renee Schuurman Haygarth |
6–4, 6–4 |
1963 | French Championships (2) | Robyn Ebbern | Ann Haydon Jones Renee Schuurman Haygarth |
7–5, 6–4 |
1963 | Wimbledon (2) | Robyn Ebbern | Maria Bueno Darlene Hard |
8–6, 9–7 |
1964 | Australian Championships (2) | Robyn Ebbern | Judy Tegart Dalton Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–4, 6–4 |
1964 | U.S. Championships | Lesley Turner Bowrey | Billie Jean King Karen Hantze Susman |
3–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
1966 | Australian Championships (3) | Lesley Turner Bowrey | Carole Caldwell Graebner Nancy Richey Gunter |
6–4, 7–5 |
1966 | Wimbledon (3) | Judy Tegart Dalton | Maria Bueno Nancy Richey Gunter |
6–3, 4–6, 6–4 |
1969 | French Open (3) | Nancy Richey Gunter | Ann Haydon Jones Françoise Durr |
6–0, 4–6, 7–5 |
1969 | US Open (2) | Virginia Wade | Françoise Durr Darlene Hard |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1971 | Wimbledon (4) | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals |
6–3, 6–2 |
1972 | US Open (3) | Virginia Wade | Françoise Durr Betty Stöve |
6–3, 1–6, 6–3 |
1975 | Australian Championships (4) | Olga Morozova | Evonne Goolagong Cawley Peggy Michel |
7–6, 7–6 |
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.
Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
1961 | U.S. Championships | Robert Mark | Dennis Ralston Darlene Hard |
3–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
1962 | U.S. Championships (2) | Fred Stolle | Frank Froehling III Lesley Turner Bowrey |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1963 | Australian Championships | Ken Fletcher | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–4, 6–4 |
1963 | French Championships | Ken Fletcher | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–1, 6–2 |
1963 | Wimbledon | Ken Fletcher | Bob Hewitt Darlene Hard |
11–9, 6–4 |
1963 | U.S. Championships (3) | Ken Fletcher | Ed Rubinoff Judy Tegart Dalton |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1964 | Australian Championships (2) | Ken Fletcher | Mike Sangster Jan Lehane O'Neill |
6–4, 6–4 |
1964 | French Championships (2) | Ken Fletcher | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–3, 4–6, 8–6 |
1964 | U.S. Championships (4) | John Newcombe | Ed Rubinoff Judy Tegart Dalton |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1965 | Australian Championships (3) | John Newcombe | Owen Davidson Robyn Ebbern |
shared championship, final not played |
1965 | French Championships (3) | Ken Fletcher | John Newcombe Maria Bueno |
6–4, 6–4 |
1965 | Wimbledon (2) | Ken Fletcher | Tony Roche Judy Tegart Dalton |
12–10, 6–3 |
1965 | U.S. Championships (5) | Fred Stolle | Frank Froehling III Judy Tegart Dalton |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1966 | Wimbledon (3) | Ken Fletcher | Dennis Ralston Billie Jean King |
4–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
1968 | Wimbledon (4) | Ken Fletcher | Alex Metreveli Olga Morozova |
6–1, 14–12 |
1969 | Australian Open (4) | Marty Riessen | Fred Stolle Ann Haydon Jones |
shared championship, final not played |
1969 | French Championships (4) | Marty Riessen | Jean Claude Barclay Françoise Durr |
6–3, 6–2 |
1969 | US Open (6) | Marty Riessen | Dennis Ralston Françoise Durr |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1970 | US Open (7) | Marty Riessen | Frew McMillan Judy Tegart Dalton |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1972 | US Open (8) | Marty Riessen | Ilie Năstase Rosemary Casals |
0–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
1975 | Wimbledon (5) | Marty Riessen | Allan Stone Betty Stöve |
6–4, 7–5 |
Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
1964 | Wimbledon | Ken Fletcher | Fred Stolle Lesley Turner Bowrey |
6–4, 6–4 |
1968 | Australian Championships | Allan Stone | Dick Crealy Billie Jean King |
walkover |
1971 | Wimbledon | Marty Riessen | Owen Davidson Billie Jean King |
3–6, 6–2, 15–13 |
1973 | US Open | Marty Riessen | Owen Davidson Billie Jean King |
6–3, 3–6, 7–6 |
Tournament | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | Career SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 2R | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | A | F | W | W | W | A | W | A | QF | 11 / 14 |
France | A | A | QF | W | QF | W | F | SF | A | A | W | W | 3R | A | W | A | A | 5 / 10 |
Wimbledon | A | A | QF | 2R | W | F | W | SF | A | QF | SF | W | F | A | SF | A | SF | 3 / 12 |
United States | A | A | SF | W | F | 4R | W | A | A | QF | W | W | A | SF | W | A | QF | 5 / 11 |
SR | 0 / 1 | 1 / 1 | 1 / 4 | 3 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 3 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 3 / 4 | 4 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 3 / 4 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 24 / 47 |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Tournament | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | Career SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | A | F | W | W | W | F | W | F | A | SF | W | W | W | A | W | A | F | 8 / 13 |
France | A | A | 3R | F | F | W | W | W | A | A | F | SF | SF | A | W | A | A | 4 / 10 |
Wimbledon | A | A | F | SF | F | W | 3R | F | A | QF | W | QF | F | A | QF | A | QF | 2 / 12 |
United States | A | A | 2R | QF | W | F | A | A | A | W | F | W | A | F | W | A | W | 5 / 10 |
SR | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 2 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 3 | 2 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 3 / 4 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 3 | 19 / 45 |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam women's doubles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Tournament | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | Career SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | A | A | A | A | W | W | W | SF | A | F | W | NH | NH | NH | NH | NH | NH | 4 / 6 |
France | A | A | SF | A | W | W | W | 3R | A | A | W | SF | 3R | A | A | A | A | 4 / 8 |
Wimbledon | A | A | SF | A | W | F | W | W | A | W | SF | 2R | A | A | F | A | W | 5 / 10 |
United States | A | A | W | W | W | W | W | A | A | A | W | W | A | W | F | A | SF | 8 / 10 |
SR | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 1 | 4 / 4 | 3 / 4 | 4 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 2 | 3 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 1 / 2 | 21 / 34 |
NH = event not held.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
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's overall win-loss record at Wimbledon was 51-9 (85%) in 12 years (1961-1966, 1968-1971, 1973, 1975). (Her win total includes one mid-match retirement but does not include any first round byes.) Her only losses were to Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1975 and 1971, Chris Evert in 1973, Ann Haydon Jones in 1969, Judy Tegart Dalton in 1968, Billie Jean King in 1966 and 1962, Maria Bueno in 1964, and Christine Truman Janes in 1961.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
Court was 13-6 against seeded players and 38-0 against unseeded players.
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 Françoise 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.
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.
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.
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.
Court was 26-3 .897 against seeded players and 35-0 against unseeded players.
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 Françoise Durr, 1–0 versus Nancy Richey Gunter, and 0–1 versus Martina Navratilova.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preceded by Maureen Connolly Brinker (1953) |
Calendar year grand slam champions 1970 |
Succeeded by Steffi Graf (1988) |
Persondata | |
---|---|
NAME | Court, Margaret Smith |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Australian tennis player |
DATE OF BIRTH | 16 July 1942 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |