The Rev. Margaret Court AC MBE (b. 1942) tennis player, was born in Albury, NSW. She was ranked number 1 in the world seven times. Court won 62 Grand Slam titles between 1960 and 1975, including the Australian Open eleven times and Wimbledon three times. Court beat Evonne Goolagong in the 1971 Australian Open singles, before losing to her at Wimbledon a few months later. In both tournaments the two Australians partnered in the doubles, winning at the Australian Open and losing at Wimbledon. In her autobiography, Goolagong writes of Court, ‘she was my friend, in some ways my mentor, in other ways my idol.’ Goolagong won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four Australian Opens between 1974 and 1977, and ranked in the top 10 for nine years. Court married in 1967, but continued to win major titles after the birth of her first three children, retiring only for the birth of her fourth in 1977. She became a Minister of the Victory Life Church in 1991. Asked in 2017 about whether she thought Court’s grand slam record would ever be beaten, Goolagong responded: ‘I hope not too soon because Margaret's my hero.’
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© Michael McQuillan's Classic Photographs
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