ITF to honour Court, Federer and Clijsters
The ITF will present its highest accolade, the Philippe Chatrier
Award, to Australia’s Margaret Court at the ITF World
Champions Dinner on Tuesday 6th June, when another year of
spectacular tennis will be officially commemorated at the
Pavillon d’Armenonville in Paris.
The ITF will also honour its 2005 World Champions: Singles
Champions Roger Federer (SUI) and Kim Clijsters (BEL), Doubles
Champions Bob & Mike Bryan (USA) and Lisa Raymond (USA)
& Samantha Stosur (AUS), Junior Champions Donald Young
(USA) and Viktoria Azarenka (BLR) and Wheelchair Champions
Michael Jeremiasz (FRA) and Esther Vergeer (NED).
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti will present Court with
the prestigious award, named after former long-standing ITF
President Philippe Chatrier, in recognition of her outstanding
achievements in the game of tennis. When she retired in 1976,
Court had become the most prolific major title winner in history,
collecting 64 Grand Slam titles - 24 in singles, 16 in doubles
and 24 in mixed doubles.
As a 17-year-old, Court won the first of her 11 Australian
Championships and went on to take the next six. The following
year, she became the first Australian woman to triumph at
Wimbledon, where she would win twice more, and went on to
win a further five singles titles each at Roland Garros and
the US Open.
Court is one of only three women in the history of tennis
to complete the Grand Slam, a feat she achieved in 1970, and
is also the only player to have achieved a Grand Slam in both
singles and mixed doubles, with compatriot Ken Fletcher in
1963. She was also instrumental in the formation of the Fed
Cup, alongside her legendary rival Billie Jean King, and led
three Australian squads to the title as playing captain in
1965, 1968 and 1971.
In 1979, Court was inducted into the International Tennis
Hall of Fame, and in January 2003, Show Court One at Melbourne
Park was renamed Margaret Court Arena.
Margaret Court now joins an illustrious group of Philippe
Chatrier Award winners, namely Stefan Edberg, Chris Evert,
Rod Laver, Nicola Pietrangeli, Juan Antonio Samaranch, long-term
Davis Cup sponsor NEC, Jack Kramer, Billie Jean King, Yannick
Noah and last year’s winner Tony Trabert.
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