Melbourne, 21 May 2012 | tennis.com.au
As we count down to French Open 2012, tennis.com.au will feature some of the best Australian achievements at Roland Garros. The highlights will be revealed in chronological order and when all 20 have been named, you get the chance to vote for your No.1 achievement.
The defending champion in Paris, Margaret Court arrived in the French capital having already won the Australian Open earlier in the year.
Court was named top seed at Paris for the sixth time in eight years – she didn’t play in 1967 and 1968 when she was temporarily retired. Seeded No.2 in 1970 was Billie Jean King who had five singles majors to her name and just needed the French Open to complete her career Grand Slam.
While Court breezed through to the final, dropping just one set along the way, King was knocked out in the quarterfinals after suffering leg cramps during her match with Germany’s Helga Niessen.
Niessen made it to the final, defeating unseeded Australian Karen Krantzcke in the semis, but she was no match for Court who was in a dominant mood. Court won her fourth singles title in Paris in straight sets, 6-2 6-4.
With two of the four majors already in her racquet bag, Court made her way to Wimbledon where she hadn’t won since 1965. Again, Court and King were the top two seeds respectively, but this time King made it to the final. The match turned out to be a classic with Court needing seven match points to finally claim her third-successive major 14-12 11-9.
Court travelled to Forest Hills hoping to become the second woman after Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953 to complete a calendar year Grand Slam. The Australian was no stranger to the Grand Slam, having accomplished the feat twice in mixed doubles. First with Ken Fletcher in 1963 then again in 1965 with John Newcombe, Ken Fletcher and Fred Stolle.
With King unable to play thanks to knee surgery, the path was relatively clear for Court to make tennis history. From the first round to the semifinals, Court gave up just 13 games in five matches. In the final she faced second seed Rosie Casals who did what nobody else had managed to do – she won a set off Court. But that was it. Court blasted her way to the finish line winning 6-2 2-6 6-1 for what was then just the fifth Grand Slam (in singles) ever.
Profile: Margaret (Smith) Court
Aussies at Roland Garros – the complete list to date
1933 Jack Crawford becomes the first Australian to win the Roland Garros men’s singles title
1951 Ken McGregor plays a marathon semifinal against South African Eric Sturgess
1958 Mervyn Rose wins the singles final while Ashley Cooper and Neale Fraser take the doubles
1960–1965 Roy Emerson features in six consecutive winning doubles duos
1962 Margaret Smith wins her first major on foreign soil
1962 Rod Laver wins the men’s singles title on his way to his first calendar year Grand Slam
1963–1965 Three in a row for mixed doubles pair Margaret Smith and Ken Fletcher
1964 Margaret Smith sweeps Roland Garros
1965 Lesley Turner is singles and doubles champion
1965–1969 Stolle, Roche, Emerson, Rosewall and Laver headline five years of dominance
1968 Ken Rosewall wins singles and doubles at the age of 33
1969 Rod Laver salutes in Paris on his way to his second Grand Slam
1970 Margaret Court wins the French Open on her way to a calendar year Grand Slam
