The former tennis champion has been chided for hurtful comments as the Australian Open marks her achievements
Melbourne — Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe lined up to criticise Margaret Court’s “homophobic” views on Monday as the Australian Open marked 50 years since the controversial tennis great’s 1970 calendar-year Grand Slam.
“With me, what you see is what you get,” she said during a video tribute that was played at the centre court, next door to Melbourne Park’s 7,500-seat Margaret Court Arena. When Tennis Australia agreed to mark the Grand Slam anniversary, the governing body stressed it “does not agree with Court’s personal views, which have demeaned and hurt many in our community over a number of years”.
Women’s Tennis Association founder Billie Jean King is one senior figure to call for Margaret Court Arena to be renamed, and Navratilova is also a frequent critic. “I teach what the Bible says about things and you get persecuted for it,” she told ABC radio. “But I still believe all that should not come in to 50 years ago, what I did in tennis for my nation.”
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