Tennis legend Margaret Court’s craziest quotes

Australian tennis great Margaret Court has caused controversy with her comments about lesbians in tennis and transgender children.

On Wednesday, Court, who is a church pastor, told Vision Christian Radio that she wasn’t “against” gay people but wanted to “help them overcome”.

She also claimed that transgender children had had their minds corrupted, comparing the phenomenon to brain-washing by Hitler and communist countries.

Here are some of her quotes from down the years:

• Tennis ‘full of lesbians’ 

“I mean, tennis is full of lesbians, because even when I was playing there was only a couple there, but those couple that led took young ones into parties and things.” (May 2017)

•  ‘That’s what Hitler did’ 

“That’s all the devil… but that’s what Hitler did and that’s what communism did — got the mind of the children. And there’s a whole plot in our nation, and in the nations of the world to get the minds of the children.” (On transgender children, in May 2017)

•  ‘Marriage between man and woman’ 

“You stand with values for family and different things, so you are a voice, and then you get persecuted for that. You are not hating the people. You love the people, but you get taken that way. And I say marriage is between a man and a woman.” (January 2017)

•  Women’s tennis is ‘boring’ 

“The men, I enjoy (watching play). The women, I don’t enjoy so much, because it’s up and down the centre the whole time. I think it’s boring.” (January 2016)

•  ‘Nobody will hit my 62’ 

“If she (Serena Williams) beats my (Grand Slam singles) record, she deserves it. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it… Nobody will ever hit my 62.” (On her record of 62 singles, doubles and mixed Grand Slam titles, January 2017)

•  In praise of apartheid 

“South Africans have this thing better organised than any other country, particularly America. I love South Africa, I’ll go back there any time.” (During the apartheid era in January 1970)

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