Margaret Court Smith

Margaret Smith Court is a retired tennis player who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979. She is also known as ‘The Arm’, Margaret Court and Margaret Jean Court. This Australian player was born in Albury, Australia in 1942. Court stands 5 feet and 9 inches. She is noted for being the first woman to ever win four Grand Slam singles titles. This Australian champion is considered to be one of the most prolific winners in Tennis history.

Even before turning pro, she has already started to leave her mark in the Australian Tennis scene. She is most noted for winning the Australian Open 11 times – several of those she won in a row from 1960 – 1966.

In her entire career, she has won 62 Grand Slam titles – more than any player has. Those titles consisted of 19 mixed doubles, 19 women’s doubles and 24 singles. She is also known for having lost to top ranked played Bobby Riggs in a challenge match in 1973. It was speculated that Court did not take the match seriously and had gone into expecting to win. Riggs was later on beaten by Billie Jean King in the famed ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match.

Today, Court is still a part of the tennis scene. She still holds the record for being the only female tennis player to win all 12 grand slam events twice. On January 2003, the Show Court One in Melbourne Park in Australia was renamed the Margaret Court Arena in her honor. She has also had her image immortalized in Australian postage stamps together with fellow Australian player – Rod Laver. She now lives in Perth, Western Australia where she also practices as a religious minister.