Margaret Court: 24 Grand Slams, Controversy, and the GOAT Debate

Few numbers in tennis spark as much argument as 24 — the Grand Slam singles title count Margaret Court achieved over her career, more than any other player, male or female. Yet the debate around her record has less to do with the statistic itself and more with the era she played in, the controversies she’s courted off the court, and how her achievements stack up against modern champions like Serena Williams.

Grand Slam singles titles: 24 (all-time record, men’s or women’s) ·
Grand Slam mixed doubles titles: 21 ·
Grand Slam women’s doubles titles: 19 ·
Career Grand Slam (singles): achieved in 1963 ·
Total Grand Slam titles (all disciplines): 64 ·
Years active on tour: 1960–1975

A quick overview of Margaret Court’s biographical data.

How Many Grand Slams Did Margaret Court Win?

Breakdown of Court’s 24 Singles Titles

• 11 Australian Open titles (1960–1973)
• 5 French Open titles (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973)
• 3 Wimbledon titles (1963, 1965, 1970)
• 5 US Open titles (1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973)

Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slam singles titles are the most ever won by any tennis player, male or female, according to the WTA official profile. Her first title came in 1960 at the Australian Championships as a 17-year-old, and her last in 1973 at the US Open. The International Tennis Hall of Fame describes her 24 major singles titles as the benchmark in the sport regardless of gender.

Grand Slam Record Across All Disciplines

• 24 singles titles
• 19 women’s doubles titles
• 21 mixed doubles titles
• 64 total Grand Slam titles across all events

Court’s 64 total Grand Slam titles—across singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles—are the most of any player in tennis history, per the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Her official site notes her career spanned 17 years and included a calendar-year Grand Slam in 1970—winning all four majors in a single season.

The implication: Court’s statistical dominance is absolute in raw numbers. No player has come within five singles titles of her total in the decades since.

Who Is Better, Margaret Court or Serena Williams?

Head-to-Head Grand Slam Comparison

Six categories, one pattern: Court leads in total volume; Williams leads in modern-era metrics. The table below lays out the numbers side by side.

Era Differences: Open Era vs. Amateur Era

• Court won 13 of her 24 singles titles before the Open Era began in 1968, when only amateurs could compete and the field was far smaller (Britannica)
• Williams won all 23 of her titles in the Open Era, facing deeper, more diverse competition
• Court’s prize money for her entire career is estimated at less than $1 million; Williams earned over $94 million in prize money alone
• The National Women’s History Museum notes Williams won four consecutive majors across 2002–2003, a feat Court matched only once (1970)

The trade-off: Court holds the numerical lead, but Williams played in a deeper, professionalized era with far higher financial stakes. Which metric matters more—raw count or era-adjusted competition—depends on who’s judging.

The divide between raw numbers and modern context keeps the debate alive.

What Did Margaret Court Say About Serena Williams?

Court’s Comments on Serena’s Era

• In 2017, Court stated Serena Williams played in a “much easier” era than the one she competed in
• Court suggested that Williams would not have won as many titles if she had played in the 1960s and 1970s
• The comments were widely reported and drew immediate backlash from fans, media, and fellow players

Margaret Court’s 2017 remarks that Serena Williams competed in a “much easier” era reignited the GOAT debate and brought fresh attention to the generational divide in women’s tennis. The WTA official profile lists Court’s accomplishments without comment on the controversy, but the tennis world was quick to respond. Williams responded that Court’s comments were “disappointing” and that she respects all players regardless of era.

Reactions and Controversy

• Serena Williams called the remarks “disappointing” and said she respects all players’ achievements
• Tennis journalists and analysts pointed out that Court herself played the majority of her career before the Open Era, when competition was limited to amateurs
• The controversy deepened existing scrutiny of Court’s public statements on LGBTQ+ issues, including her opposition to same-sex marriage

Court’s comments did not occur in a vacuum. She has a long history of controversial statements on social issues, including publicly opposing same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights, which has alienated many within the tennis community. The International Tennis Hall of Fame honors her athletic achievements but does not comment on her personal views.

The pattern: Court’s legacy is split—statistical GOAT on paper, but a polarizing figure whose off-court views have cost her the universal admiration that typically accompanies such records.

Her words continue to shape how fans and analysts weigh her place in the sport.

Is Margaret Court the Best Tennis Player of All Time?

Arguments for Court as GOAT

• Most Grand Slam singles titles of any player: 24 (WTA official profile)
• Most total Grand Slam titles across all disciplines: 64 (International Tennis Hall of Fame)
• Only player in history (male or female) to win a calendar-year Grand Slam in two different disciplines—singles and mixed doubles in 1970
• Career Grand Slam achieved by age 21 (1963)

The statistical case for Court is straightforward: she has more major titles than anyone. The Britannica entry for Serena Williams explicitly identifies Court as holding the all-time women’s record at 24, making the comparison unavoidable in any GOAT discussion.

Arguments Against: Context of Her Achievements

• 13 of her 24 singles titles came before the Open Era (pre-1968), when only amateurs could enter and fields were shallow
• The Australian Open in the 1960s often had fewer than 20 players in the women’s draw
• She never faced the depth of competition that modern players encounter week to week
• Few of her contemporaries from the 1960s publicly support her GOAT claim, and many align with Serena Williams or Steffi Graf instead

Critics argue that raw title counts from the amateur era cannot be weighed equally against Open Era achievements. Players like Steffi Graf (22 titles), Martina Navratilova (18), and Serena Williams (23) competed in far deeper professional environments. The Smithsonian Women’s History Museum contextualizes Court’s era within a broader landscape where women’s tennis was still fighting for recognition and equal pay—factors that limited both competition and opportunity.

Why this matters: The GOAT label depends on whether you prioritize peak statistical totals or era-adjusted greatness. Court clears the first bar by a wide margin; the second bar is where the disagreement lives.

Why Did Margaret Court Lose to Bobby Riggs?

The 1973 ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Match

• The match took place on September 20, 1973 at the Houston Astrodome
• Bobby Riggs, a 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion, defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1
• Court was 31 years old and at the peak of her career, having won the Australian Open and French Open earlier that year
• The match was billed as the “Battle of the Sexes” and drew a massive television audience

The Britannica account states that Riggs made disparaging comments about women’s tennis and described himself as a “male chauvinist pig” in the lead-up to the match. Court later said she was nervous and underestimated Riggs, who was a master of psychological gamesmanship. The Smithsonian Women’s History Museum links Riggs’s offensive comments to a broader backlash against women’s demands for equal rights in the early 1970s.

Court’s Preparation and Performance

• Court admitted she was “petrified” before the match and felt immense pressure to represent women’s tennis
• Riggs used constant chatter and showmanship to disrupt her concentration
• Some analysts noted that Court’s playing style—big serve and aggressive net play—was ill-suited to Riggs’s junk-ball tactics
• The ESPN investigation decades later raised questions about whether Riggs may have thrown the match he later played against Billie Jean King, though no evidence suggests he did so against Court

The match remains a defining moment in Court’s career, but not for positive reasons. It’s often the first fact cited by skeptics who question her GOAT status. Billie Jean King went on to defeat Riggs later that same year in the more famous Battle of the Sexes match, which the EBSCO Research Starters note was accepted after Riggs’s repeated public taunts about women’s sports.

The catch: A 55-year-old man beating the world’s No. 1 female player in straight sets became a permanent footnote in Court’s biography—one that no number of titles can erase from the public memory.

That single match continues to color perceptions of her greatness.

Margaret Court’s place in tennis history is secure by the numbers—24 singles majors, 64 total, a calendar-year Grand Slam—but her legacy is fractured by the era she played in and the controversies she has embraced since retiring. For the tennis world, the choice is between pure statistics and holistic impact. For Court, the record stands, but the admiration doesn’t follow. For fans, the debate between Court and Serena Williams isn’t getting settled—it’s getting sharper.

Related reading: Margaret Court Grand Slam record · International Tennis Hall of Fame – Margaret Court

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