"High time the American tennis establishment erected a statue in honor of Martina Navratilova" - Tennis insider
Former World No. 1 and 18-time singles Major champion Martina Navratilova deserves to have a statue in her honor, according to prominent tennis commentator Brett Haber. The 54-year-old, who has worked alongside Navratilova in his broadcasting career, recently called on American tennis authorities to plan and execute his idea.
Navratilova, born in Prague in erstwhile Czechoslovakia, was compelled to flee her native country in 1975 because of her vocal opposition to the Soviet Bloc's regime. She took refuge in the United States of America and was granted US citizenship in 1981.
Meanwhile, as these developments unfolded off the tennis court, on it, Navratilova became one of women's tennis' most dominant forces. Over the course of her illustrious career, she won a staggering 59 Grand Slam titles (18 singles, 31 women's doubles, 10 mixed doubles) and reached World No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Since calling time on her playing days in 2006, Martina Navratilova has continued to be involved in tennis through high-profile appearances at prestigious events. She has also worked as an analyst and commentator, most notably for Tennis Channel, where Brett Haber plies his trade as a commentator himself.
Recently, Haber took to X (formerly Twitter) and urged tennis authorities in the USA to erect a statue in Navratilova's honor. He went on to laud the former World No. 1 for being symbolic of "the American spirit."
"Not for nothing, but I believe it's high time the American tennis establishment named something big and erected a statue in honor of @Martina. A true trailblazer, champion, role model and embodiment of the American spirit. My humble opinion," Haber wrote.
Whether the tennis authorities take Haber's suggestion seriously, only time will tell. Meanwhile, Navratilova has been honored on several prestigious stages for her immense contributions to women's tennis. Arguably the biggest of those honors came in 2000, when she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Martina Navratilova was a part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 inductees
In 2000, Martina Navratilova became an International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee alongside Australian former men's World No. 2 Mal Anderson and American former Davis Cup captain Bob Kelleher. In her nearly-15-minute induction speech, she touched on several aspects of her life, including the subject of her defection as an 18-year-old.
Navratilova also spoke about how her commitment to tennis came relatively late and propelled her to the heights of greatness in the sport.
"The one thing I can hold my head up high is that even though I got started late in my total commitment to tennis, once I figured it out, I stuck with it, just gave everything I had to the game in becoming the best player I could be and hopefully making others wanting to be that way as well," Navratilova said.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame induction came around six years after Martina Navratilova's retirement from singles in 1994. She won 167 singles titles throughout her career and spent 332 weeks as the women's singles World No. 1, behind only Steffi Graf.