Margaret Court, an Australian born on July 16th 1942, completely dominated women's tennis during the 1960s, winning an incredible 62 Grand Slam titles – 24 in singles and 19 each in doubles and mixed.

Her 11 victories at what is now the Australian Open included seven in succession and there were also five victories each at the French and US Opens. Wimbledon was Court's least successful Grand Slam, but she still triumphed three times at the All England Club.

Margaret Court's record would probably be even more impressive had she not taken a year's break from tennis after marrying her husband Barry in 1967.

However, the sabbatical did nothing to end her dominance and in 1970 she won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same year.

The following year she lost the Wimbledon singles title to Evonne Goolagong while pregnant with her first child, Daniel, who was born in March 1972.

Margaret Court won three more Grand Slams in 1973 and her second child, Marika, was born in 1974. By then her days as a major singles force were over and Court retired permanently in 1977, after which she had two more children.

Margaret Court was also the first opponent for Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes' challenge matches he set up in 1973. Reports suggest Court may have taken her 55-year-old opponent too lightly when they met in California and she was beaten 6-2 6-1 as Riggs deployed the tactic of making her move around the court as much as possible.