Margaret Smith Court

Margaret Smith Court was the dominant women's tennis player of the 1960s. Her 24 major singles titles are the most in the history of women's tennis. As Margaret Smith, she went to Wimbledon in 1962 as a heavy favorite, but in a famous upset lost to American Billie Jean Moffit (later Billie Jean King). Smith returned the next year and became the first Australian to win it all. She retired in 1966, married and started a family, but returned to tennis in 1970. That year Margaret Smith Court won the rare Grand Slam: singles titles at Wimbledon plus the U.S., French and Australian Open tournaments. All in all, Court won 24 major singles titles and 62 Grand Slam events (singles and doubles), both being the most in history. In 1991 she was ordained as a Christian minister and founded the Victory Life Church in Perth, Australia. She was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.