Margaret Court: Developing Talent through Persistence

04/18/24 • 49 min

Margaret Court captured an all-time record of 64 major titles during her esteemed tennis career, including 24 in singles, 19 in doubles and 21 in mixed doubles. As one of the greatest players of her era, there were several aspects of her life and training that she credits to pushing her game to the next level, which she details with Chris Bowers.

Court began tennis as a matter of proximity, growing up near grass courts and fostered by coaches who recognized her talent at a young age. Aside from her on-court skills, she credits her passion for training - running and lifting weights - as the keys to her consistent success and relatively injury-free career. Her arrival at the top of the game was sudden, winning the Australian Championships at age 18, and began a sustained career she covers in depth. Court speaks to the tumult of the early years of professional tennis, her mentors in the men's game and what she enjoys about today's tennis.

Margaret Court owns the fourth-best singles winning percentage of all time (91.69). She is one of only three players in history to have won the Boxed Set, consisting of every major title (the singles, doubles and mixed doubles) and is the only player to ever complete a double Boxed Set. Court was year-end No. 1 a total of seven times during her career.

Previous Episode

Cliff Drysdale: Making an Impression in All Efforts

Cliff Drysdale is a preeminent voice in tennis broadcasting, but his commentary skill on television is just the latest chapter in a career that touches all aspects of the sport. Starting at a very young age in South Africa, Drysdale was a self-taught competitor who played alongside and claimed victories against some of the best in tennis history.

In 1968, Drysdale became one of the founding members of World Championship Tennis known as the Handsome Eight. With host Chris Bowers, he discusses the early days of professional tennis, and how it was firstly an opportunity for him to continue playing the game he loved. When the ATP began in 1972 as representation for the growing body of professional players, Drysdale was named President, and talks about how he stumbled into the role. For him, the start of the pro era was less about consciously changing the game, and more about the common sense of including players in decisions.

Cliff Drysdale captured the 1972 US Open title with Roger Taylor, and was a finalist at the 1965 U.S. Nationals in singles. He captured 23 career titles in singles, rising to a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in 1965. As a member of World Championship Tennis, he advanced to three WCT Finals, and was a leading figure in the ATP's Wimbledon boycott in 1973. He has commentated for ESPN for more than 30 years, since the network's first tennis broadcast in 1979. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the Contributor Category in 2013.

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Michael Stich: The Desire to Improve

Over the course of a year during 1990-91, Michael Stich went from being the 400th ranked player in the world to sitting inside the top 10, and winning Wimbledon. It was a steep and relatively quick ascent for a player who called himself a "terrible" juniors player. But for Stich, he credits his immense love for the sport as the reason he chose to continue, and make a career of tennis.

Family is a key factor in Stich's development, and he is quick to thank his parents for letting him try to live his dream - and also put him in his place when needed. Before winning Wimbledon in 1991, he had only captured one previous title on the ATP Tour, but Stich was uniquely prepared for the championship match. He details how he attacked it as any other match, despite playing countryman Boris Becker, his memories of meeting his heroes after and how he was ready for the next stage of his career. Stich was a proud competitor for Germany alongside legends in Davis Cup, Hopman Cup, and the Olympics and won 16 more titles before retiring in 1997.

Michael Stich is a Wimbledon champion in singles and doubles, Davis Cup champion, and Olympic gold medalist in doubles. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 2 in the world, finishing his career with 18 titles and finals appearances at both Roland-Garros and the US Open. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2018.