Over the years, there has been much debate about the Open Era and pre-Open Era in tennis. Before 1968, Grand Slam tournaments didn’t allow professional players to compete. However, it all changed in 1968 after the major events allowed pro players to take part in the events, and the era was named Open Era. Further, there have been question marks over the legitimacy of players winning Grand Slams in the pre-Open Era and Margaret Court was a big victim of it. Recently, Naomi Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, sparked a major controversy after he downplayed Court’s legacy.

Statistically speaking, Court is the undisputed leader with a staggering 64 Grand Slam titles. Her dominance in the 1960s and 1970s was unparalleled, winning 24 singles titles, 19 doubles, and 21 mixed doubles. However, a major chunk of her titles came before the Open Era and this has become a subject of debate. While the GOAT debate was going on social media, Mouratoglou didn’t recognize Court’s major wins before the Open Era.

He wrote, “I said it a million times. With all due respect, the record of Margaret Court was establish at a time when tennis was not even a professional sport. Winning GS at that time can never be considered as winning GS in the open era.”

However, this isn’t the first time that the French coach has talked about Court’s feat. A few years back, he put Serena Williams above Margaret Court, saying, “Margaret Court was playing at a time when three-quarters didn’t even go to Australia (for the Australian Open), where tennis was an amateur sport, when the draws were 16 players. I don’t mean to disrespect Margaret Court, but it’s another era. Yes, it would be better if Serena broke her record but, if she doesn’t, she will still be the greatest player of all time.”

Meanwhile, Serena Williams tried hard to overtake Court’s record of 24 major titles. However, she fell just short of the record as Court still occupies the leaderboard.

When overtaking Margaret Court was Serena Williams’ No. 1 goal

Back in 2017, Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and moved just one short of equaling Court’s record of most major titles. The American legend still had the glory days ahead of her to achieve this, but she failed to add any more Grand Slam titles.

Talking about her goals back then, Serena Williams’s then-coach Mouratoglou  highlighted, “The No. 1 goal is to have two more Grand Slam titles. For now, I just focus on it. I am not focused on the after yet. What’s sure is that when I have time, I will be happy to give it to my Academy. Then in the end I will take a player. I spent a lot of time lately with Serena.”

Shortly after winning her 23rd major title, Williams went on maternity leave and she even suffered from injuries toward the fag end of her career. The American legend did manage to reach four Grand Slam finals after that, but lost in all four and failed to overtake Court. Do you agree with Mouratoglou’s views about Margaret Court? Let us know your views in the comments below.