Margaret Court is largely considered the Greatest of All Time in women’s tennis, but what exactly makes her such an incredibly untouchable immortal?
In recent times, Margaret Court has been the center of controversy for statements made regarding her views on the LGBTQ community. Regardless, there is no denying what the Australian tennis legend has done for the sport, as her unparalleled dominance in Grand Slams has granted her a GOAT status of epic proportions.
#1 – Calendar Grand Slam
We all know how difficult it is for any tennis player, no matter how great they may be, to win all four Grand Slams within the same year. Even the infamous Big 3 of ATP tennis, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have all been unable to accomplish this feat, making it a major indicator, if not a requirement, to be deemed a GOAT of the sport.
In 1970, Margaret Court became the first woman in the Open Era and the second woman in the history of the sport to win all four Grand Slams consecutively in the same calendar year. This incredible achievement is largely considered the “holy grail” of tennis and is currently shared by only five players across the WTA and ATP combined.
#2 – Doubles & mixed doubles Grand Slams
If winning all four Grand Slams in a calendar year is not impressive enough, then guess what, that was not the first time the Australian achieved a feat of that magnitude. In the years 1963 and 1965, Margaret Court won every mixed-doubles major title consecutively, bringing her total to a staggering three calendar Grand Slams across all disciplines by the end of 1970.
Adding to an already astounding doubles record, Court won 21 mixed doubles majors and 19 women’s doubles majors for a total of 40 Grand Slams in doubles tennis. It doesn’t quite end there either, as the years 1973 and 1975 saw the Aussie GOAT win the WTA Finals at the season’s end to add two more prestigious doubles titles to her name.
#3 – Several career Boxed Set Grand Slams
You may have looked at this heading wondering what you just read, and fair enough, because a Boxed Set Grand Slam is an achievement that hardly anybody has obtained in the history of the sport, making it widely unheard of to the public ears. The term refers to the accomplishment of winning the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles of the same Grand Slam tournament throughout one’s career.
Margaret Court managed to win a career Boxed Set Grand Slam for every major at least once during her life of professional tennis. More impressively still, Court has won the Boxed Set in a single Grand Slam event on five occasions, meaning she would completely clean sweep the tournament across all disciplines.
What makes Margaret Court so incredibly untouchable when it comes to Grand Slams is that she is the only player in history across men’s and women’s tennis that has won the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles of every Grand Slam event at least twice. An already incontestable arsenal of world records which is only amplified by the fact that she is, and will forever be, the only tennis player to win Boxed Set Grand Slams before and after the Open Era.
#4 – Unmatched singles winning percentage
With such a phenomenal track record of 64 WTA majors, it comes as no surprise that Margaret Court also has the greatest singles winning percentage of all time in the Open Era at an unbelievable 91.37%, winning 593 of her 649 singles matches played during that period. To give you some perspective, Novak Djokovic’s singles win percentage is currently at about 83.16%, and this is the all-time highest ratio for men’s tennis.
#5 – Strong physique, playstyle & training regime
There is indeed a winning combination that has contributed to Margaret Court’s unmatched success, and that is her natural physique that has been complimented greatly by her choice of playstyle and commitment to training. Avoiding injury as much as possible is an often-overlooked factor to success in tennis, and many players with amazing potential have unfortunately fallen victim to the shackles of injury, sometimes instigating career-ending moments.
Margaret Court’s dedication to fitness training earned her the nickname “Aussie Amazon,” as she was one of few women that were so committed to lifting weights, circuit training, and running up sandy hillsides. In addition to keeping her injury-free throughout the majority of her career, Court’s training allowed her to get the best out of her physique. Possessing a longer reach than most, as well as notable advantages in height, strength, and size, the Aussie was an offensive serve-and-volleyer who was deceptively fast on the court.
Considering that 23 of her 64 major career titles were done at the Australian Open and of course being Australian herself, it is no wonder that one of the most elite tennis stadiums in the country was renamed Margaret Court Arena in 2003 to honor Australia’s greatest ever female tennis player. Indeed, there has yet to be a player quite like Margaret Court, and while Serena Williams has come close to matching her singles Grand Slam record, challenging the Aussie’s doubles records introduces a whole new solar system of challenges, unlikely to ever be contended in the foreseeable future.
There is no place for her bigotry in tennis or in the world. Her name should be removed from the arena in Melbourne which is named for her.
Maybe she shouldn’t have expressed her views as a pastor so publicly but she is allowed to have those views. Regardless, Court’s accomplishments make her the GOAT. I have said it for many years.
Her point of view doesn’t change the fact that she’s achieved more than any other woman on a tennis court. While it may be offensive to some people to remove her would be unfair and unjust.
I am with comedian Dave Chappelle on trangsgenderism. Gender is a fact. And a man dressing as a woman is like a white person putting on blackface–an insult. As Chappelle says the LBGTQIA+++++++ community makes up a “word” to defend their “cause”. Like TERF’s (look it up). And stop calling me cisgender.. I am getting tired of that phrase.
Let Court’s accomplishment stay on the court please.
Jim, you will notice I deleted two sentences from your comment. I apologize, I had to do it in order to avoid possible Google penalties because of some specific words. I really don’t like to restrict my readers in any way, but I have to keep the language very clean here for the sake of wider audience. I hope you don’t mind.
Yaseen’s article wonderfully explains the grandeur of Court’s achievements. I think it is a very informative article that puts the Australian’s legendary results in perspective. It also teaches the younger generation of what women’s tennis stars of the past achieved in their careers.
Court’s tennis results are actual facts and I don’t see how they could be taken away from her. What she thinks on whatever topic is her own opinion and has nothing to do with her tennis career.
This is an interesting summary of her achievements, however the thing is she uses her fame and position as a tennis champion to publicise her statements, so you can’t divorce the two. The newspapers wouldn’t be interviewing her about what she thinks about gay people if she hadn’t been a tennis player, and she’d just be some right-wing evangelical preaching quietly to her audience of three. So she trades on her fame and status to say things which could well have a bad effect on young gay tennis players and young gay people in general – who as we know have relatively high suicide rates. Margaret is quite poisonous in her views and as an Australian I’m afraid I have little time for her.
Margaret’s record speaks for itself in tennis history. The rest is just opinions; like bum holes and as the saying goes everyone has one.
????
Margaret Court is not only a living legend in Tennis.regardless of your views . She is a great humanitarian. who feeds the poor every week.
So very proud she is a great Australian
I
What an amazing tennis player!
Court is statistically winner of most Grand Slams, until she is not. But most of her wins were in her home country against low ranked opponents due to the best players not living in Australia and not wishing to travel so far so unfortunately mitigates her record. Court is really in the middle of the pack when GS wins are the debate. Most of Court’s GS wins were in Australia where she lived. Williams is generally considered the winner of the most GS’s played against an open field. Williams and others have won more competitive GS’s than Court ever did. There is no comparison when level of ranked opponents is considered in the field. Court just does not have a real competitive record with quality opponents as do others in GS events. Her statistical record will forever be unqualified as equally competitive, sorry to say. For this reason, even her winning the Grand Slam in a calendar year, as Connelly did before her, mitigates her record. Her record has always been blemished. And remains so.
numbers no emotions I may never have seen her play, but numbers dont lie
Lots of gymnastics there to avoid mentioning the host’s name. Everyone who cares to know knows that Court was playing amateur tennis whereas the goat plays the most competitive women’s tour year in and year out. It’s a shame how much sites line this keep trying to downplay Serena and I’d be curious to know why you have such a problem giving credit where it’s due.
Margaret Courts achievements on the court are all that counts and go down in the records for what they are. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and if people don’t agree with hers, get over it!
Whatever views you may have doesn’t change the fact of what she has achieved. She is so far ahead of all other tennis players….40 grand slam titles across both singles, doubles and mixed doubles is so far ahead of any other player in history speaks for itself. What a champion.
Ken, you are a pathetic man. Margaret Courts numbers and achievements will never be repeated. You think your research is clever, but show you up for the bigot that you are. What a pathetic human you are, get over yourself.
Ken You talk rubbish . you can only win where the tournament is being played. If Margaret had better control of her nerves she probably would have won another 10 titles. She was never beaten in singles in the Fed Cup while representing Australia. How many other players would have had the birth of 4 children interrupting their Careers. Margaret would have wiped the floor with most the current baseline players , who would not have seen which way the ball went
No player today will have three kids , continue to win majors, and only retire with her fourth pregnancy.
Margaret Court, the all time Queen of the ‘court’ stands as the Goat of Women’s Tennis. ????????