Champion Margaret Court to miss Australian Open tennis

Australian tennis legend Margaret Court has turned her back on this year’s Australian Open after the gay-marriage controversy.

Australian tennis great Margaret Court. Picture: AP

Australian tennis legend Margaret Court has turned her back on this year’s Australian Open after the controversy she sparked with her condemnation of gay marriage.

The nation’s greatest ­female tennis player will go crab fishing instead of ­attending the year’s first grand-slam tournament.

She also said any boycott of matches on the court named after her at Melbourne’s tennis centre would reflect badly on the players.

“I think that is petty if they do that and it says what’s in their heart,” she said. “I think that’s very childish — but that’s not up to me and it doesn’t affect me.”

Despite copping global criticism for her same-sex marriage stance, Court doubled down on her comments, calling gay marriage a trend and saying Australia “will pay” for its decision to allow same-sex couples to wed.

A Tennis Australia statement confirmed Court had been invited to the Australian Open but would not attend.