Dellacqua wins Aussie LGBTI Sports Personality award

Casey Dellacqua admitted some surprise in garnering the Australian LGBTI Award as Sports Personality of the Year.

"Sport is an industry that can always make a difference and have a huge impact within the community," Dellacqua said, in part, in a tweet about the news. "I will continue to do what I can for the LGBTI community."

Dellacqua bested a unisex field of nine other elite candidates for the designation, with the LGBTI Awards noting her career-best No. 3 WTA doubles ranking achieved in 2016 and praising her as the "proud mother of Blake and Andie with her partner Amanda [Judd]."

"Casey Dellacqua has arguably the most contagious smile on the WTA women’s tour and immediately captured the hearts of the Australian public when she made her Australian Open debut as a 17-year-old in 2003," her online entry continues. "After a few developmental years, Dellacqua joined the world’s top 50 for the first time in 2008 after reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells, and third round appearances at Roland Garros and Wimbledon."

The likes of Michelle Heyman, a fellow nominee, and Rennae Stubbs, retired from tennis but actively commentating on the sport, chimed in with kudos over Dellacqua's selection.

In a November 2017 tally, 60 percent of Australians voted via postal mail to legalize same-sex marriage. Dellacqua and some other tennis players, both active and retired, hailed that at the time while Margaret Court and other Aussie sportspersons decried the outcome.

Outspoken in her condemnation of Court's remarks about same-sex marriage and LGBT people, Dellacqua published a tweet in mid-2017 about the recurring controversy. She was born in Perth, where Court pastors a church, and felt emboldened to speak out after Court made comments about Dellacqua's family.

On the tennis court, Dellacqua finds herself presently perched at No. 10 in the WTA doubles rankings despite middling results to date in this young season. Even so, her 2017 alongside Ashleigh Barty in doubles action was a surefire keeper. The two seized titles in Kuala Lumpur, Strasbourg and Birmingham, and also made appearances in the finals at the French Open, Eastbourne and New Haven.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.