Australian Open Organizers Hope the Drama Stays on the Court

Also that year, there were protests at the tournament, including by the tennis greats Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe over Margaret Court, the former Australian player, after she accepted an invitation to return to Melbourne Park to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her winning all four majors, called the Grand Slam, in 1970. The park’s secondary stadium was named after her in 2003.

Court, who holds the record for winning the most major singles titles with 24, is now a Pentecostal pastor in Perth and created a divide in her homeland because of her opposition to gay marriage. The tournament went ahead with its celebration of Court, but did not give her a microphone to speak to the crowd.

“When you get a stadium named after you, you have to understand that people who are walking through those doors may be gay, and insulting those people is totally unacceptable,” Stubbs said. “You are essentially an ambassador for our sport and for our country. You can think what you like but just don’t say it.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/sports/tennis/australian-open-drama.html