A significant bypass today over to women’s tennis, and to an issue that keeps haunting the tour: Why does the legendary Margaret Court insist on doing harm to the sport she once dominated?
Court, now a Pentecostal minister in Australia, has been in the news again lately for attacking gay and transgender people, a regular habit of hers. She recently announced a personal boycott of Qantas airlines, “whenever possible,” because of that company’s support of same-sex marriage. And during an interview on a Christian radio network, Court said, “Tennis is full of lesbians because even when I was playing, there was only a couple there, but those couple that led took young ones into parties and things.”
Unfortunately, she went on: “You can think, ‘Oh I’m a boy,’ and it’ll affect your emotions and feelings and everything else, and so that’s all the devil. That’s what Hitler did; that’s what Communism did — got the mind of the children. And it’s a whole plot in our nation and in the nations of the world to get the minds of the children.”
Ugh. There is understandably now a movement by Martina Navratilova and others to change the name of Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open. Players like Andy Murray want the issue resolved before that tournament next January, one way or the other.
Lest we forget, this isn’t the first time Court’s actions have threatened to sabotage women’s tennis. If it were up to her, the sport would still be stuck in the Stone Age, subservient to the men’s tour. It would offer minimal prize money, nothing like the $3.7 million earmarked for the women’s champ at the 2017 U.S. Open. Over the decades, Court has done everything she can to undermine progress in the game.
In 1970, when Billie Jean King and eight other players organized a revolt that led to the Virginia Slims circuit and eventually the WTA Tour, Court did nothing to support the movement. At the time, prize money for the women's titlist at Wimbledon was 1,500 pounds – half the amount awarded the winning man.
It’s not as though Court was opposed to chasing money. In May 1973, she took the bait from Bobby Riggs and agreed to a famous mixed-gender match that was a considerable circus. Then, to make things worse, she lost badly in straight sets to the tennis huckster in the so-called “Mother’s Day Massacre.” This led to King’s reluctant acceptance of Riggs’s challenge, and to her famous victory.
Now we get this stuff about gay and transgender people, and an insult in one instance to a specific woman on the tour. Casey Dellacqua was singled out by Court in 2013 for having children with a same-sex partner. Dellacqua recently told The Melbourne Herald Sun, “She can have her opinion but my family does not deserve that and did not deserve that.”
Look, there is no denying that Court was a great player. She won a record 24 majors and held a 22-10 head-to-head edge over King in their rivalry. She completed a Grand Slam in 1970 – capturing all four major titles – for which she earned a puny $15,000 bonus.
It is ridiculous, however, to compare her accomplishments to those of Serena Williams – and not just because the game has changed so much over the past 50 years.
Court won 11 of her majors at the Aussie championships, from 1960 to 1973. She won five of her majors at Roland Garros, from 1962 to 1973. During that span, many of the top women's players didn’t bother participating in either of those tournaments. King entered the Australian championships only three times during that span and played the French championships five times.
Ann Haydon Jones, a three-time major winner, played just two Australian championships, in 1965 and 1969. Maria Bueno, who had seven major titles, participated only in 1960 and 1965. Nancy Richey played in Melbourne just twice, in 1966 and 1967, winning in 1967.
Althea Gibson retired in 1958. Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova didn’t get started, really, until Court retired.
So by the standard of her own day, the competition for many of Court’s Grand Slam titles was second-tier. It is absurd to suggest that Williams, with 23 major titles, needs to win one or two more in order to equal Court’s accomplishments.
In any case, it is unlikely that Australian tennis officials will change the name of Margaret Court Arena. Inertia generally triumphs in such matters. It would be the right thing to do, however. The woman can’t help herself, and she just keeps hurting tennis.
