The dispute over her anniversary was eventually settled, with Tennis Australia agreeing to 'recognise but not celebrate' Court's rare achievement in winning all four major singles titles in a calendar year. On Sunday, Court, who is a minister at a Pentecostal church in Perth, told worshippers that her mentioning the Bible in the public arena was like "opening a can of worms". Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "The devil gets in and the media and the political, the education, TV – he wants to control a nation so he can affect people's minds and mouths ... "I can go on television and if I say, 'well, this is what the Bible says', well, it's like opening a can of worms," she said.

"My goodness, you've let a torpedo off or something. No it's true, because they hate the word of God. She again asserted her controversial views on transgender children and how trans women were "problematic" in the sporting arena. "Because we are living in a season ... even that LGBT and the schools – it's of the devil, it's not of God ... "And when children are making the decision at seven or eight years of age to change their sex ... no, just read the first two chapters of Genesis, that's all I say. Male and female. "It's so wrong at that age because a lot of things are planted in this thought realm at that age. And they start to question 'What am I?' and if you are a Christian... you believe the word of God, this is our TV guide to life... "

"And you know with that LGBT, they'll wish they never put the T on the end of it because, particularly in women's sports, they're going to have so many problems. Loading "And you have got young people taking hormones and having changes, by the time they are 17 they are thinking, 'Now I'm a boy and really I was a girl'. "Because, you know what, God's made us that way," she said. Court also reiterated that being gay was "a choice" and said that just because she didn't agree with people, didn't mean she hated them.

"I don't hate anybody," he said. Court made her comments just hours before Rafael Nadal touched down in Perth for the inaugural ATP Cup and mere weeks before the Australian Open – to which she had been invited as a special guest – is due to kick off. Tennis Australia would not specifically comment on Court's Sunday sermon or its timing and instead referred to an open letter sent out on November 30th in which it stated it was "common practice to draw a distinction between recognising champions and celebrating heroes, and it is an important distinction". Loading "Naturally, we will be recognising Margaret and her incredible tennis record, and contrary to many reports, there is no plan to 'rewrite history'.