The 1970 Grand Slam: Margaret Court Reflects, 50 Years Later
When the 1970 tennis season kicked off, Margaret Court just had a feeling it was her year. The Australian legend had won three of the four singles Grand Slams in two prior seasons (1965 and 1969), but the massive feat of the calendar year Grand Slam had eluded her up until that time.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 season, Court reflected, "If I look back, it just felt that year was going to be my year. In other years, I'd gotten the flu in the French or had an injury. Everything just has to be right in the one year. There's many times you'd go so close and then you might miss one somewhere. To get the four of them, it's not easy."
In that vein, the 1970 season didn't prove to be an easy one. Court kicked off the season on a high, claiming her ninth Australian title by defeating compatriot Kerry Melville, 6-3, 6-1. On the tricky clay courts of Roland-Garros, she topped Germany's Helga Niessen, 6-2, 6-4. The calendar-year Slam was in a precarious position at Wimbledon, when a much hyped final versus Billie Jean King became a battle of both mind and fitness. Come New York in September, the pressure was on, both personally and publicly, when she faced Rosie Casals in the US Open final, dropping a set to the American for the first time ever in their long playing history.
"If I look back, it just felt that year was going to be my year. To get the four of them, it's not easy”
- Margaret Court
Court powered through, and tennis history was made that year. To this day, she is one of just three women in tennis history fo have achieved a calendar year Grand Slam in women's singles, along with Maureen Connolly in 1953 and Steffi Graf in 1988. The four singles titles that Court claimed that year are among her 24 total, a record she still holds as the most Grand Slam singles wins of all tim.
In her own words, here's the story of Hall of Famer Margaret Court's 1970 Grand Slam, 50 years later.
