CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Tennis icon Margaret Court has once again returned to the headlines this week, calling out Tennis Australia for not showing her the same respect as Rod Laver when celebrating the 50th anniversary of her Grand Slam next year.
Court won all four majors in 1970 and finished her career with 24 grand slam singles titles — the most in history — however her inability to keep her fundamentalist religious views to herself has greatly affected her standing as an ambassador for the game.
Gay marriage in Australia was legalised after the postal-vote plebiscite in 2017 but Margaret Court has continued to vocalise how much she disagrees with it because the Bible says marriage should be between a man and a woman.
It is for this reason, she has been gently removed from the Tennis Australia Christmas card list, as the organisation faces immense pressure from current players and the rest of the tennis community to rename Margaret Court Stadium.
Court says the growing anti-homophobia sentiment inside TA, as well as greater society, has resulted in her being excluded from the things everyone else gets. Like she’s some sort of queer.
Australian tennis legend Rod Laver was celebrated at all the majors this year, in recognition of him winning the Grand Slam in 1969 – however Margaret Court feels as though she is not being shown the same respect.
Court is adamant she deserves the same treatment, especially in her home country. Instead of excluding her from the same rituals everyone else is allowed to enjoy.
As far as prominent anti-gay-marriage Australian sport-stars go, Margaret Court is joined by recently-fired Wallabies fullback Israel Folau, and that bloke who played a few matches for Wests Magpies in the NSWRL back in the 1980s.
Possibly Sam Newman as well but who cares about that old drunk.
