Melbourne , 23 May 2012 | tennis.com.au

As we count down to French Open 2012, tennis.com.au will feature some of the best Australian achievements at Roland Garros. The highlights will be revealed in chronological order and when all 20 have been named, you get the chance to vote for your No.1 achievement.

1973 Margaret Court wins her 13th French Open crown

Almost a dozen years separated the top two seeds in the women’s singles at Roland Garros in 1973. Australian Margaret Court, aged 30, sat atop the heap, while 19-year-old American Chris Evert was seeded second.

The wildly talented Evert had raced up the rankings thanks to her poise, consistency and heavy ground strokes. In 1973 Evert was yet to win her first singles major, but the teenager was on the cusp of one of the great tennis careers.

Court, as was generally her way, only gave up one set on her way to the final. On the other side of the draw, the American’s path to the final was even smoother – the stingy starlet didn’t drop a set before the final against Court.

Despite having beaten her before, Evert was unable to repeat the dose in a major final.

Evert outplayed Court in an opening set tiebreak, but Court turned the tables in the second set, winning the ensuing tiebreak. In the third, Court edged out Evert 6-7 7-6 6-4 to win the Roland Garros singles title for the fifth and final time.

Court would also win the doubles – with Virginia Wade over Francoise Durr and Betty Stove – to claim her 13th French Open crown (five singles, four doubles and four mixed), which is a record that still stands today.

A few months later Court won the US Open to finish 1973 as the No.1 player. It would prove to be her last victory in a major singles final.

Court finished her career with a combined 62 Grand Slam tournament titles (24 singles, 19 doubles and 19 mixed) – more than any other player on the women’s or men’s tour. She completed the extremely rare boxed set by winning singles, doubles and mixed titles at the world’s four Grand Slam tournaments.

She retired from professional tennis in 1975 but her name continues to be raised when talk turns to the greats of the game despite it being more than 30 years since she last struck a ball in competition.

Profile: Margaret (Smith) Court

Aussies at Roland Garros – the complete list to date

1933 Jack Crawford becomes the first Australian to win the Roland Garros men’s singles title

1951 Ken McGregor plays a marathon semifinal against South African Eric Sturgess

1953 Ken Rosewall wins the men’s singles title 12 months after winning the Roland Garros boys’ championships

1958 Mervyn Rose wins the singles final while Ashley Cooper and Neale Fraser take the doubles

1960–1965 Roy Emerson features in six consecutive winning doubles duos

1962 Margaret Smith wins her first major on foreign soil

1962 Rod Laver wins the men’s singles title on his way to his first calendar year Grand Slam

1963–1965 Three in a row for mixed doubles pair Margaret Smith and Ken Fletcher

1964 Margaret Smith sweeps Roland Garros

1965 Lesley Turner is singles and doubles champion

1965–1969 Stolle, Roche, Emerson, Rosewall and Laver headline five years of dominance

1968 Ken Rosewall wins singles and doubles at the age of 33

1969 Rod Laver salutes in Paris on his way to his second Grand Slam

1970 Margaret Court wins the French Open on her way to a calendar year Grand Slam

1971 Evonne Goolagong wins the first of her seven singles majors

1973 Margaret Court wins her 13th French Open crown