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By Mark Vasto
I was born on May 13, and sometimes I remember to actually look at the part of the newspaper that tells you who was born or what significant event occurred on that same day. Turns out, it was a pretty significant day.
Formula One started on that day in 1950. Stevie Wonder, the world’s blindest basketball-game-attending fan, was born on that day. Other things occurred: In 1917, three kids said they received a visit from the apparition of Jesus’ mom at Fatima, Portugal. In 1940, it was the day Germany conquered France (I know, I know … that could have happened any day, but it just so happened). Also, it was the day that Bobby Riggs – a washed-up, 55-year-old tennis-playing hustler – destroyed Margaret Court in straight sets (emphasis soon will become clear), 6-2, 6-1.
At the time, this was a big deal. Court was the No. 1-ranked woman’s player in the world. Her loss did absolutely nothing to advance women’s rights. This was a time when women athletes barely had running water in their locker rooms, let alone anything approaching equal tournament pay. The fact that Court curtseyed to Riggs before the match made the loss even more cringe-worthy to women players like Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.
The record shows that Court won 24 grand slam singles titles. (A “grand slam” means you won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in a single calendar year.) This is kind of a big deal. Players like Evert and Navratilova won 18. Steffi Graf had 22; Serena Williams has 23 of them. The International Tennis Hall of Fame plaque for Court says that “for sheer strength of performance and accomplishment there has never been a tennis player to match her.” The Melbourne Herald Sun called her the greatest female tennis player of all time.
And then just recently, we learned that Margaret Court, who played in the 1960s and ’70s, makes no sense in today’s world.
Look around your town. Chances are, many of you haven’t a clue as to why your town has its name, particularly if it ends in “ville” or “burg.” Bet many of you live on a street or drive named after a person you haven’t the slightest inkling about.
But that’s really how the majority of people in the world will leave a legacy, they will get something or someplace named after them after a vote by the local city council. Very few people leave lasting impressions on the world without getting either assassinated or blown up to epic proportions (I’m looking at you, Johnny Appleseed). Think of Carnegie Hall. Or Cermak Boulevard. Wrigley Field. The problem tennis has is that the Australian Open named an arena after Court, and Court has turned out to be a pretty terrible person.
I won’t dignify Court by repeating what she said about the lesbian community, but I’ll make a psychic prediction: There’ll be an arena looking for a new name in Australia in the next few days. Sorry, Margaret … we’re going forward, not backward. You are NOT the greatest female tennis player of all time.
Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in New Jersey.
(c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.
