Tennis Player Margaret Court Says Her Serena Williams Appreciation Isn't Reciprocated

Tennis great Margaret Court has a lot in common with the late Rodney Dangerfield. Neither gets respect, though Court specifically says she doesn't get the respect she deserves from Serena Williams.

"Serena, I've admired her as a player," the 80-year-old tennis legend told the Daily Telegraph. "But I don't think she has ever admired me."

Court's resume speaks for itself. Court won 24 Grand Slam singles titles, 19 doubles titles, and 19 mixed-doubles titles, for a grand total of 62 titles.

That's good. That's really good.

However, Court doesn't always receive the adulation she so clearly deserves. Why? Because of some of her outspoken Christian beliefs, specifically her opposition to same-sex marriage in her native Australia.

"A lot of the press and television today, particularly in tennis, don't want to mention my name," she said. "The honor has not been there for what I did do. In my own nation, I have been given titles, but they would still rather not mention me."

Australian tennis player Margaret Court was showing them how it's done back when JFK was in office. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Court Made A Case For Why Her Career Was In Some Ways More Impressive Than Williams'

Court was winning titles between 1960 and 1975. Some have argued that the reason Court doesn't receive the same amount of attention as other tennis greats is that she played in a different era.

Well, she has an answer for that.

"Serena has played seven years more than I did," Court said. "I finished in my early 30s. People forget that I took two years out. I first retired … when I was 25, thinking I would never return to tennis.

"I got married, had a baby, but then had one of my best years, winning 24 out of 25 tournaments."

Court also pointed to her success after having her children compared to Williams as another reason why she deserves more respect.

"I came back after two babies. After having the first baby, I won three out of the four Slams." Court said, throwing in that "Serena hasn't won a Slam since" she had a baby.

That's a mic drop moment if ever there was one.

Finally, she thought that Williams could have shown a little more respect to her final opponent, Australia's Ajla Tomljanović.

"I thought it was bad that Williams didn't mention her opponent more when she spoke," Court said. "We were taught to honor our opponent. We respected one another."

That last part seems a little nit-picky, but Court still has herself a hell of an argument.

Williams just wrapped up her final US Open, however, people are already wondering if this is truly the end of Williams' storied career.

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