Tennis legend Margaret Court speaks about her historic 24 grand slam singles titles, her meeting with Novak Djokovic, and the evolution of the sport over the past 50 years.
One is the undisputed king of Melbourne Park. The other is an Australian tennis great whose name adorns the court adjacent to Rod Laver Arena. Both have won 24 grand slam s. But remarkably, before this Australian Open , Margaret Court and Novak Djokovic had never met. Court’s face lights up when reminded that Djokovic is desperately chasing a 25th major, another historical marker that may be reached this weekend – at the tournament where he has won a remarkable 10 titles.
“Yeah, I know he is,” 82-year-old Court says with a smile. “I saw him for the first time yesterday, walking through .“I’ve tried to meet him for two years, and every time that hasn’t happened. “And we walked through yesterday, and he came over, and he gave me a kiss, and we just said, ‘hello’.Novak Djokovic is a 10-time winner of the Australian Open.Court says she’s comfortable if Djokovic breaks the slam singles deadlock. Equally, Court says, she would have also been content if Serena Williams, who finished with 23 majors, had caught her at the finishing post before the American great’s career ended in 2022.“I think I always said, even when Williams was trying, I’ve always said that one is there to be beaten,” Court said.German superstar Steffi Graf, a favourite player of Court’s, got her hands on 22 grand slams, a figure also matched by recently retired great Rafael Nadal, with Roger Federer (20), not far behind. While the grand slam singles tally makes for great fodder for tennis boffins, Court is especially proud of another number: 64, the combined number of grand slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles she secured during a ridiculously successful career that began when she won the 1960 Australian Open, aged 17. Court then won the next six, and finished her career with 11 Australian titles. She can proudly point to her “boxed set”, too, as one of three players (all women) to have won every major title in the sport’s three disciplines.But Court can envisage how she and others would have fitted in the modern game.“I was probably the first to do weights. Women didn’t do weights back in that time,” she said.“You hear people ask, ‘Well, would you fit in today?’ I think we would have, and I think Laver would have too, just a different time, but we pioneered what people are watching today.” Albury-born Court headed to Melbourne as a 16-year-old and trained under Australia’s former world No.1 Frank Sedgman. Her more than 15 years at or near the top spanned the end of amateur tennis and the start of the open era. Remarkably, when it ended, she says she wasn’t even sure about her finishing tally. “It wasn’t until John Barrett and television became so much bigger that they started to add up all what I had done,” Court said. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know I’d won 64 grand slams altogether. I had no idea. I never added them .” Court is renowned for her fierce rivalry with Billie Jean King, the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association. Their conflicting views on same-sex marriage also put them at odds philosophically. Court’s vocal and much-publicised opposition to homosexuality even prompted King at one point to call for her name to stripped from Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park. The two played each other 32 times, including in five grand slam finals, with the Australian victorious 22 times.“Well, Billie Jean was always competitive with me,” said Court, reflecting on their relationship. “You know, we had battles. Everybody wanted a Court-King final. “She was the sort of player who always had the tactics. She just knew how to try and get through players, too.” Pushed further on whether she enjoys any form of pleasant catch up with her fierce rival, Court said: “Well, we, we say, ‘hello’, yeah, that’s about it”. Court watches plenty of tennis, and cites men’s legends Federer and Nadal as some of the top men she loved to watch. Graf and two players she confronted on the court, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, get a special mention.Of the current WTA contingent at the top, Court says: “I think they’re all pretty even at the moment.“That’s where Barty was good. Yeah, she had that variety. I enjoyed watching that, but you haven’t got that amongst a lot of them now.” Court comes to Melbourne in the summer, and asked to comment on her main observations from more than 50 years of change for the sport, noted how it’s now far easier for mothers. As for Melbourne itself, the city with the Australian Open venue that moved up the river from Kooyong to its current spot with an enormous footprint close to the city centre, Court says: “It’s so wonderful. You know, you think, what would it be like if you were born into this time, just the facilities, training, things, everything is wonderful.“You can take your family with you . We had none of that, so it was a lot harder back then.” Court had a brief hiatus from tennis in 1966 and 1967, and gave birth to her first child in 1972
Margaret Court Novak Djokovic Australian Open Grand Slam Tennis Billie Jean King Women's Tennis
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