Casey Dellacqua speaks up for LGBTQ tennis
Tennis athlete Casey Dellacqua was in the spotlight recently after she spoke out against the homophobia of tennis legend Margaret Court.
Speaking during the French Open in Paris recently, Dellacqua slammed Court’s attack on same-sex marriage and her claim that “tennis is full of lesbians” with the athlete telling her fellow Australian: “It’s just normal.”
What others may not know is that the Australian Dellacqua has always been outspoken defender of the LGBTQ community, being an out athlete and married with children.
Casey Dellacqua takes her ease
At the Roland Garros, Dellacqua and Australian teammate Ashleigh Barty moved to the quarter-finals in the women’s doubles at Roland Garros.
However, they were later defeated by American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Czech Lucie Safarova, 6-2 6-1. Speaking on her defeat, Dellacqua said she wasn’t affected by Court’s statements while she was playing.
“When you walk out on the court, I don’t even think about that,” she said. “No doubt it’s been a big few weeks but I think I’ve handled it really well.”
Despite getting strong support for speaking out against Court, Dellacqua said she has nothing to prove to the tennis legend.
“Honestly, since I’ve had my family, I’ve been asked to do lots of stories but, to me, I don’t feel like it’s a story because it’s just my family and I’m just like your family,” said the 32-year-old Dellacqua in an interview.
Dellacqua, who has two children with partner Amanda Judd, said: “I don’t want to stand up and be a poster girl for any of that stuff. That’s the truth.””
“I just feel like an every-day person doing the job that I love and I happen to have a couple of kids and that’s my family– but I’m also extremely proud of my family,” she added.
Casey Dellacqua as a parent
Born in February 11, 1985, Dellacqua has constantly given a strong showing in professional tennis, though her main strength has been at doubles.
Currently, her record is four WTA doubles titles and one grand slam mixed doubles title at the 2011 French Open.
Dellacqua said she tries to talk to her children– toddler Blake and baby daughter Andie– as much as she can while on tour.
“Blake, he’s almost four, so we have chats on Facetime, proper chats,” Dellacqua said.
“My daughter Andie, she just turned one, so she doesn’t get it, so she just wants to take the phone and plays around with the phone,”she added.
“I know that my partner and I do a really good job at parenting and we adore those kids and those kids will always have our love and they see us in a very respectful relationship,” Dellacqua said.
“So I just stand by the legacy that I want to leave behind for myself, my tennis, my kids, and those are the things that I value,” the Australian said.