Margaret Court Interview

[britbox]

The great Margaret Court has very kindly agreed to an interview with the Tennis Frontier.

Margaret is one of the greatest players to ever pick up a racquet and leads the ladies grand slam winning count with 24 majors.

If you would like to submit a question for Margaret, please add them in this thread. We likely won't be able to ask all of them but we'll do our best to include questions where we can.

 

[Moxie]

Great score, BB!

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

A great interview is always accompanied by a couple of pictures.
Is it possible to obtain a few images before and/or after the interview?

 

[Kieran]

Great stuff, team! That's another incredible coup! :clap

And thanks to Margaret! Will put on the old thinking cap!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

My question is

I would like Margaret's opinion on the current state of women's tennis.

Thanks.

 

[tented]

- Some people weigh the difference between pre- and post-Open Era GS titles. Does she think of her pre-Open Era titles differently than those from the post-Open Era?

- The significance and stature of the Australian Open has grown tremendously since the '70s/'80s. What factors does she think contributed to this change?

 

[Si Si Simona]

Two questions please.

1) In the past, Australia used to produce world class players and grand slam champions on a product line. That was the case in both men and women. Its no longer the case and even Stosur winning the US Open looks like a coincidence.
Do you feel that Australian tennis is in decline and if so why?

2) What do you think of Simona Halep and can she hold her own against the big hitters?

Thanks.

 

[kskate2]

Two questions.

Who does she most enjoy watching on the current ATP and WTA tours? Why?

Baron, great job in securing her participation. :clap

 

[Kieran]

I'd ask her what her role was when the amateur-professional wall came down, and how she feels about equal prize money.

Thanks!

 

[rubydo]

The popularity of the game of tennis continues to grow dramatically. Why do you think this has happened? Is it the electronic age we live in that provides greater coverage of the game, or are there more players evolving that are capturing the peoples imagination?

 

[Moxie]

Given that she has achieved the holy grail in tennis - the Calendar Slam, 1970 - can she speak to why that's such a difficult achievement, and so rarely accomplished?

 

[jhar26]

Margaret is no doubt one of the all time greats - some would say THE all time great. Even so, one gets the feeling that historians and fans sometimes try to downgrade her achievements in favor of her contemporary Billie Jean King while it was Margaret who had the upperhand in their rivalry. How does she feel about this rewriting of history?

Also - she's a devout Christian. Does she feel that as a result she sometimes lacked a bit of a mean streak that might have helped her in the competitive world of tennis, or was it on the contrary a source of inspiration for her when she played the game?

And a 'fun one' - who of todays players does she think would have done well in her era playing with wooden racquets (or standard sized racquets at least) when it was all (or mostly) about serve and volley? And who of her contemporaries or near contemporaries (she herself, Bueno, King, Goolagong, Chrissie, etc..) would have done well today?

 

[britbox]

Thanks for the questions to date. Last call for any more... I'll be firing them over on Monday

 

[Moxie]

Hopefully I'm still under the wire here: Margaret Court retired from tennis, had kids, and then came back to the game, to real success. That's a rarity. (Kim Clijsters is another one that comes to mind.) I'd be interested to hear her speak to the difficulties of balancing marriage, children and the demands of the peripatetic life of a tennis player, especially in her time, when the pressures to stay home with her kids might have been even greater, and the travel was, perhaps, more arduous. I'd wonder if she thinks that female tennis players have to opt for one or the other, (family or tennis,) since it seems clear that they do, and she managed both.

 

[britbox]

Questions sent. Thanks for the contributions.