Background

Margaret Court was born in the small town of Albury, New South Wales, Australia, on July 16, 1942. She is the youngest child among four kids in a family of Lawrence Smith, who served as a foreman in a cheese-and-butter processing plant, and Catherine Smith.

Education

Margaret Court was raised in a modest house in Albury. Although there were no sport amateurs in her family, except two siblings who loved bicycle racing, Court was active since childhood. She used to play cricket, soccer, basketball, and softball with neighborhood boys after St. Augustine's Convent School. She excelled in track races, especially of 400 and 800 meters, to such an extent that was expected to join the Australian Olympic team. Yet Court's passion for tennis prevailed, and she gave up running.

It was in the street that she came across the game for the first time. An eight-year-old girl, she received a battered heavy tennis racket from one of her mother's neighbours. Court and her friends played on the local Albury Tennis Club, owned by Wally Rutter, without permission at first. Even at the time, Margaret's natural talent was evident as she could hit harder than any girl. Impressed by her abilities, Rutter authorized her as a member of the club in about 1952.

Childless, Rutter treated Court as a daughter and gave her first tennis lessons. He also invited her to attend his Saturday afternoon tennis workshops for youngsters. Margaret worked part-time in the club, cutting grass, serving food, and painting lines on the courts to pay for the lessons. By adolescence, she became a regular participant of Country Week in Sydney where she represented the Albury team and easily defeated older players.

Within the course of the time, Rutter realized that his ward needed better training. He got in with the world champion Frank Sedgman who, impressed by Court's potential, invited her to pursue training in Melbourne under his guidance. She moved there with her elder sister and worked as a receptionist at Sedgman's athletic center to pay the tuition.

The group of Sedgman provided her with a variety of training experiences. Stan Nicholes was responsible for her strict physical fitness program and Keith Rogers coached her in the game. Court soon joined the Wilson Cup Team for the state of Victoria and grabbed all the state titles on the Australian junior circuit, except for the Australian Junior Championship, lost to Jan Lehane and Lesley Turner in 1959.

Career

The start of Margaret Court's career can be counted from 1960 when she turned professional and won the Australian Open singles title, the first title from the seven straight, by defeating Jan Lehane. Court remained shy and awkward during the early days in adult sport.

The next year, she went on an overseas tour with an Australian team under Nell Hopman. She didn't show her best and won only the Kent (England) All-Comers Championship and collected loses in the semifinals of the Italian championship and the quarterfinals of the English and French championships. When Court began to travel independently of the squad, from 1962, the situation improved as she grabbed the Italian, French, and American titles. Seeded #1 at Wimbledon that same year, the athlete was beaten by Billie Jean King in the first match. Though, back to Australia, Court earned her next Australian Open title and became the top player at the international level.

One more Australian singles title in 1963 was followed by the victory over Billy Jean King at Wimbledon. The next year, Court won the Australian, Italian, and German championships, but lost in France, the United States, and England. After winning the 1964 American and All-England titles, the athlete admitted that she needed a rest. About two years later, she retired from sport temporary, after losing matches against Nancy Richy in Paris and Billie Jean King at Wimbledon.

Margaret Court settled down in Perth, Australia, where she shared a house with Helen Plaisted, an Australian squash player, and Ann Edgar, an educator. Court got involved in business and, along with Plaisted, set up a sports gear and clothing boutique "Peephole." Although the business flourished as well as Court's social life, her newly minted husband encouraged his spouse to resume a career in women's tennis in 1968.

Though the comeback was marked by failures in all four major championships of that year, in 1969 Court won everything except Wimbledon. A year later, Margaret had easy victories in the Australian singles and went on to beat Helga Niessen in Paris and former rival Billie Jean King in London. The triumph was crowned by a Grand Slam after she won over Rosemary Casals in the American Open (present-day US Open).

The success was followed by a decline caused by, among other things, some health problems. Court left the competition to give birth to her first child and rejoined the pro tour just a few weeks later after his arrival. By April 1973, 16 victorious tournaments out of 18 and 78 victorious singles matches out of 80 were to her credit.

She continued to triumph in many tournaments, including the Australian Open and the 1973 U.S. Open. She then went on to face and defeat 18-year-old Chris Evert in the finals of the French Open, one of the toughest matches of her career. In September 1973, Court won her fifth U.S. Open, winning over Evonne Goolagong. She finished the season as the top woman player in the world.

Court withdrew from the game again in 1974 to have her second child. After a hard recovery period, she played in the South African Open that same year, making the semifinals in singles but losing to Dianne Fromholtz. At the Western Australian Open (West Australian championships at the time) in Perth, Court won Olga Morozova of Russia in the final. The Australian Open was lost to 18-year-old Martina Navratilova. Court took revenge at the 1975 Virginia Slims Circuit, defeating Navratilova in a three-setter 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Court announced her retirement from sport two years later.

In 1982, Margaret Court began studying for the ministry at the Rhema Bible Training Centre in Perth and established a Pentecostal Christian church there, also known as the Victory Life Centre, in 1995. She has been senior minister of the Centre and, since 2010, has presided over the network of churches, Victory Life International.

Achievements

• 

  An ex-world No. 1, Margaret Court is rightly one of the greatest and the most successful tennis players ever. During her seventeen-year career as a professional, she earned in total 192 single titles and 62 Grand Slam titles, that is more than any other male or female in the history of the game.
  
  The first Australian to win Wimbledon, Court was the first female player in the Open Era and the second after Maureen Connolly to grab the Grand Slam in singles. Besides, she is among only three female tennis players to have won the Grand Slam in all three grades (the singles, doubles and mixed doubles). Court's record for most victorious titles in single Grand Slam competitions was beaten by Rafael Nadal in 2019.
  
  Court was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame two years after retiring from the sport and was elected to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and to the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993. She has also been an inductee of the Victorian Honour Roll of Women since 2001. Two years later, the former tennis star was featured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post. Margaret Court is a Member of the Order of the British Empire and the Officer of the Order of Australia.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Court on Court: A Life in Tennis

    (A book co-written with George McGunn.)

    1975
  • The Margaret Smith Story

    (A book co-written with Don Lawrence.)

    1965
  • Margaret Court: The Autobiography 2016

Religion

Margaret Court was brought up in the Roman Catholic tradition but turned to Pentecostalism in the middle of the 1970s.

Politics

Margaret Court patronizes the Australian Family Association, a conservative political organization.

Views

As a religious pastor, Margaret Court is known for controversial criticism of homosexuality and same-sex marriage in Australia. So, in 2012, she stood against same-sex marriage reform in the country. Such openly gay tennis players as Billie Jean King, Rennae Stubbs and Martina Navratilova have opposed to her strict views and even argued that the Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park in Victoria, site of the Australian Open, should be renamed in honor of another Australian tennis star, Evonne Goolagong.

Margaret Court patronizes Drug Free Australia.

Quotations: "My femininity is always something I've tried to preserve in this dog-eat-dog world."

"Movement is my game."

"My dislike of the spotlight inhibited me and prevented me from cashing in on my tennis talent."

"I'm just a wife and mother who plays tennis."

"I pastor a very large church in western Australia. We have about - over 2, 000 people, which we have a Bible school, community services, a lot of things linked with it. So my life's very full today. Not enough days in the week."

Personality

An eminent tennis player with an unprecedented scoring, Margaret Court wasn't accepted by many of her colleagues, notably those of the United States. While an athlete, Court never enjoyed her fame and didn't like money matters, always rejecting offers for television commercials. The fact that she managed to combine a brilliant athletic career with family life and motherhood was more important for her.

Physical Characteristics: Margaret Court is 1.75 meters tall. Left-handed by birth, Margaret Court retrained to a right-hand grip. A powerful serve and volley and exceptional endurance were the hallmarks of Court as an athlete.

Quotes from others about the person

• Stan Nicholes, coach: "Many people think that Margaret is stuck up, or aloof. But this is just humble shyness. … I'll always remember when Margaret won Wimbledon for the first time. Over TV she thanked Keith Rogers and myself. For her in the moment of her tremendous triumph to remember us – I thought it was something."

Interests

• family

Connections

Margaret Court married Barry Court, son of the Minister of Industrial Development for Western Australia Charles Court, on October 28, 1967. Barry's brother was a politician too. The family produced four children, one son and three daughters.

Father:

Lawrence Smith

Lawrence Smith worked in the food industry.

Mother:

Catherine Smith

(née Beaufort)

husband:

Barry Court

Barry Court was an amateur yachtsman and wool broker. He then served as an agricultural minister for Western Australia.

Sister:

June Shanahan Smith

Brother:

Vincent Smith

Brother:

Kevin Smith

Son:

Daniel Lawrence Court

(born March 1972)

Daughter:

Marika Margaret Court

(born July 1974)

Daughter:

Teresa Ann Court

(born 1976)

coach:

Frank Sedgman

(born October 29, 1927)

Frank Sedgman was an Australian tennis player from 1945 to 1976. An ex-world No. 1, he is a five-time Grand Slam singles and 22-time doubles winner.

References

• Margaret Court Arena Official Website