STARNBERG, December 8, 2019
The 50th anniversary of Margaret Court’s 1970 Grand Slam feat will be celebrated at next year’s Australian Open, but the tournament will also serve as a platform for the rebuffing of her views.
The hosts are keen on commemorating Margaret’s winning of all four Grand Slam tournaments during the aforementioned year, just like they did for Rod Laver previously, and the 77-year-old Australian tennis legend has accepted an invitation to attend the event at Melbourne Park in January.
While they’re looking to showcase Margaret’s iconic achievements, Tennis Australia have also condemned the comments she made in 2017. The former tennis star denounced same-sex marriage, blasted homosexuality and said LGBT practices among young people were “all the devil.”
“That’s what Hitler did. That’s what communism did,” she said. “Get in the minds of the children. There’s a whole plot in our nation and in the nations of the world to get in the minds of the children.”
Tennis Australia made it clear that it does not agree with the stance in a statement made to News Corp, claiming the organization “does not agree with Margaret’s personal views, which have demeaned and hurt many in our community over a number of years.”
“They do not align with our values of equality, diversity and inclusion,” the statement added. “The organization will release “guiding principles” which acknowledge “not just our champions, but everyone who plays our sport.
“The philosophy and culture of our sport goes deeper than winning and setting records.”
Margaret is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time and has won more major titles than anyone who’s ever graced the sport. She became the first woman to win all four Grand Slams available in a single year during the Open era and the second to do so since Maureen Connolly did in 1953.
She set the record for most titles attained from a particular Grand Slam event when she won her 11th Australian Open in 1973, a record which was only broken when Rafael Nadal claimed his 12th French Open this year.
Margaret is now a Christian minister, hence her views on the above.
The 2020 Australian Open will begin on January 14 and culminate with a final on January 27. Serena Williams is the favorite to leave the tournament as women’s singles champion and is 11/2 to win it with Bet365 and free bets can be had from Aussie Free Bet.
2019 US Open and Canada champ Bianca Andreescu, who beat Williams en route to both her victories, is 6/1 with Skybet and Ashleigh Barty is 7/1 with Ladbrokes. Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka are both 8/1 to end the competition as winners while Betfair has odds of 14/1 going on Karolina Pliskova.
If you’re also interested in betting on the men’s singles, you could get 7/4 odds on Novak Djokovic from Marathon Bet, who are also offering 7/2 on Nadal’s chances. Roger Federer is 8/1 with Paddy Power, Danil Medvedev is 10/1 with Boyle Sports and Stefanos Tsitsipas is 12/1 with Betway.
