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Google Maps Just Renamed Margaret Court Arena

Could this be a omen?

It seems the calls to rename Margaret Court Arena have finally been answered, at the very least, by Google Maps.

The tennis legend came under fire recently for a series of homophobic comments, which included her plan to boycott Qantas for its support of the same-sex marriage movement.

Tennis players, past and present responded to these comments in a wave of backlash. Samantha Stosur, Casey Dellacqua and John McEnroe were among those who publicly condemned Court for homophobic comments. Fellow tennis player Martina Navratilova wrote an open letter in Fairfax Media that called for Margaret Court Arena to be renamed.

"I think the Evonne Goolagong Arena has a great ring to it," Navratilova wrote. "Now there is a person we can all celebrate. On every level."

It seems, on first glance at least, that Google agrees with Navratilova in their slightly premature renaming of the arena. This is how it appeared on Google Maps.

Well, that was quick.
Google Maps
Well, that was quick.

The arena however, hasn't actually been officially renamed, so how did this happen?

A spokesperson for Google told the ABC that the organisation's use of "a wide range of sources, including third-party providers, public sources, and user contributions" makes their maps all-encompassing. There is however, a slight problem with this.

"We recognise that there may be occasional inaccuracies that could arise from any of those sources," the spokesperson said.

So basically, Google claims its Maps platform has digitally detected the calls to rename the arena after Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, and because there are so many articles related to the matter, it automatically -- and accidentally-- swapped over.

As support for renaming the court grows, it appears this Google makeover is only temporary. The arena's name still belongs to Margaret Court.

The name hasn't been changed just yet.
Google Images
The name hasn't been changed just yet.

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