Reaffirming her opposition to homosexuality, former tennis champion Margaret Court on Wednesday told a Christian radio station that tennis “is full of lesbians” and transgender people are influenced by the devil.

Speaking to the 20Twenty Vision Christian Radio, the 74-year-old said LGBT tendencies were a part of mind control, which was also seen in Hitler’s Nazi Germany. “That’s what Hitler did, that’s what communism did,” Court was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald. “Get in the minds of the children. There’s a whole plot in our nation and in the nations of the world to get in the minds of the children.”

Court, a 24-time grand slam winner, said she even saw lesbian players trying to influence younger players back when she used to play. “I mean, tennis is full of lesbians. Even when I was playing there was only a couple [of lesbians]. But those couple that led took young ones into parties and things. What you get at the top is often what you’ll get right through that sport.”

When reminded of a recent poll stating 65 per cent of Australians supported gay marriage, Court said the statistics can be “very, very wrong.” Court blamed bullying and parents who “did not care” for children identifying as transgender.

Court had earlier said she would boycott Qantas Airlines from now on as the airlines supported gay marriage. Her words had been criticised around the tennis community, with former World No. 1 Martina Navratilova, who is openly gay, saying her name should be dropped from the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne. “Margaret - you have gone too far. Shame on you,” she had said in a tweet. World No. 1 men’s player Andy Murray also condemned her comments on same-sex marriage. He said if the authorities were planning to change the name of the Margaret Court Arena, it should done before the start of the Australian Open.