Margaret Smith began playing tennis at the age of eight and was seventeen when she won her first of seven straight Australian Open singles titles. In 1963, her strong serve and forehand allowed her to become the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon Championship and to win the Grand Slam in tennis in mixed doubles with partner Ken Fletcher[?].
Margaret Smith dominated world tennis in the first half of the 1960s until 1966 when she retired, married Barry Court, and started a family. She returned to tennis in 1970 and that year won all four of the Grand Slam in tennis tournaments, defeating Kerry Melville[?] in the Australian Open final, Helga Niessen[?] in the French Open, Billie Jean King at the Wimbledon championships and Rosie Casals[?] at the U.S. Open. Her Grand Slam achievement was a feat accomplished previously by only one woman, Maureen Connolly, who did it in 1953 and since only by Steffi Graf in 1988.
She retired permanently in 1977 when she learned she was expecting the third of her four children. During her illustrious career, Ms. Court won a record 62 Grand Slam titles and was ranked No.1 in the world seven times: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, and in 1973. Included in her victories she was the singles champion of the four major tournaments:
In 1979 Ms. Court was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame[?] and in January of 2003, Show Court One at Melbourne Park was re-named Margaret Court Arena.
Ms. Court now lives in Perth, Western Australia, and runs a Christian ministry.
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