Margaret Court has called out Serena Williams following her retirement after losing against Aussie Alja Tomljanovic.
The US tennis champion’s career came to an end after she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 in the third round of the US Open.
This means Court will hold onto her grand slam record that Williams has tried besting for a long time.
Despite the win for Court, she didn’t hold back when she called out the US player who she says should have spoken more about her opponent following her loss.
“Serena, I’ve admired her as a player, but I don’t think she has ever admired me,” Court told The Telegraph UK.
“I thought it was bad that Williams didn’t mention her opponent more when she spoke.
“We were taught to be role models for the young, in how we behaved. We were taught to honour our opponent. You learned from your losses. We respected one another.”
In her retirement speech, Williams mentioned Court and slammed those who said she doesn’t deserve to be the GOAT (greatest of all time) because of her loss.
“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles, which she achieved before the ‘open era’ that began in 1968,” Williams said.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record. Obviously I do. But day to day, I’m really not thinking about her. If I’m in a grand slam final, then yes, I am thinking about that record. Maybe I thought about it too much, and that didn’t help.
“The way I see it, I should have had 30-plus grand slams.”
Court went on to single out tennis organisers who she claims completely ignored her at Wimbledon, and the lack of invitations for other big tennis events.
“It’s very sad, because a lot of the press and television today, particularly in tennis, don’t want to mention my name,” she said.
“It’s only when they have to, because I still hold so many records. In 2020, I was meant to be coming to Wimbledon for the 50th anniversary of my calendar grand slam.
“But then Covid hit, so the honour never happened. The French Open didn’t invite me, the US Open didn’t invite me. Rod Laver had won the slam and I was going to be honoured in the same way, but no.
“I didn’t lose any sleep over it. But the honour 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.”
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This article first appeared on OverSixty.