{"id":6145,"date":"2023-04-08T08:11:02","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T08:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/?p=6145"},"modified":"2023-04-08T08:11:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T08:11:02","slug":"april-8-1973-78-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/08\/april-8-1973-78-2\/","title":{"rendered":"April 8, 1973: 78-2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Margaret Court (right), with Max-Pax Coffee Classic runner-up Kerry Harris<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Philadelphia Daily News<\/em> called Margaret Court<\/a> “the siege-gun of women’s tennis.” It was a useful way to visualize the the Australian’s attack, but most siege victims lasted far longer than Court’s opponents ever did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 8, 1973, Court secured the title at Philadelphia’s Max-Pax Coffee Tennis Classic, the first professional women’s tennis tournament ever held in Philly. The feel-good story of the week was Kerry Harris, a 23-year-old Aussie who came through qualifying to reach the final. No woman had ever done that on the Virginia Slims tour, and Margaret ensured that she went no further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final lasted all of 38 minutes. Harris won the fourth game, and that was it. The tournament experimented with no-ad scoring, which might have shaved a couple of minutes off of the championship match, but let’s be honest: Kerry didn’t make it to deuce very often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it was brutal. “At your average execution,” wrote Tom Cushman of the Daily News<\/em>, “they at least blindfold the victim.” At the same time, it was typical. Court won her first-round match in 41 minutes; her second-rounder against Val Ziegenfuss took just 32. After that match, Ziegenfuss spotted Margaret’s husband Barry and teased that he wasn’t doing his job. Court had too much energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Philly champ was unusual in that her family traveled with her; even more so that the entourage included her infant son, Danny. She had stepped away from the tour after discovering she was pregnant in the summer of 1971. She returned a year later and won a title as a mother on her first try, beating Evonne Goolagong<\/a> in Cincinnati. She finished 1972 with an Australian Open crown and a 29-match winning streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>