Melbourne (AFP)
The fiftieth anniversary of the Grand Slam in 1970 by Margaret Court will be celebrated at the Australian Open in January, the Australian federation announced on Saturday, which castigates the "belittling" ideas of the champion on homosexuality and gay marriage. .
"The Australian Federation respects Margaret (Court) for her incomparable career and will welcome her to the Australian Open to mark the anniversary of this important date in her career," Tennis Australia said in a statement, which will celebrate the performance. of Court by a series of events throughout the tournament.
But "the Australian federation does not share Margaret's personal ideas, which have degraded and hurt many members of our community in recent years," said Tennis Australia.
The Australian player with 24 major trophies - absolute record ladies and gentlemen - won in 1970 the four Grand Slam tournaments, a feat only made by two other players, the American Maureen Connolly in 1953 and the German Steffi Graf in 1988 .
At the beginning of November, she was worried that she had not been contacted by the Australian federation two months before the Australian Open which will take place from January 20th to February 2nd in Melbourne. "The Arm" had said he hoped for a tribute similar to that received at the 2019 edition by his compatriot Rod Laver for one of his two Grand Slams, completed in 1969.
The polemical remarks of the pastor today about homosexuality and gay marriage have in recent years made headlines. They were denounced by the ex-N. 1 global Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, both homosexuals.
Margaret Court said she was "looking forward" to Melbourne for the tribute.
© 2019 AFP