“A racist and a homophobe” – When Martina Navratilova tore apart into Margaret Court for saying tennis was full of lesbians

“A racist and a homophobe” – When Martina Navratilova tore apart into Margaret Court for saying tennis was full of lesbians

Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova was involved in a huge row with Australian tennis legend, Margaret Court back in 2017. The 24-time major champion had made some racially unacceptable comments, which seemed to have triggered Martina Navratilova. The American accused Margaret Court of being a racist and a homophobe, for stating that tennis was full of lesbians.

Martina Navratilova also wrote an open letter, demanding that the Australian Open rename the Margaret Court Arena. She believes that sporting venues should not just be named because of the achievements on court, but also their conduct off-court.

“It is now clear exactly who Court is: an amazing tennis player, and a racist and a homophobe. Her vitriol is not just an opinion. She is actively trying to keep LGBT people from getting equal rights (note to Court: we are human beings, too). She is demonising trans kids and trans adults everywhere,” Navratilova wrote.

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Andy Murray called for boycott of Australian Open owing to racist comments from Margaret Court

Dutch player Richel Hogenkamp, who has come out as an openly gay player also supported Martina Navratilova’s plea demanding that the Australian Open rename the Margaret Court Arena. Former British tennis player, Andy Murray called for a boycott of the Australian Open 2018, if the issue was not resolved by then.

“It’d be more beneficial to do something before the tournament. If the players come to an agreement – if they think the name should be changed or whatever – that should be decided before the event starts, but I would imagine a lot of the players would be pretty offended by that,” Murray had said.

Martina Navratilova and Margaret Court have a long history of verbal spats. Back in 1990, the Australian fired shots at the 18-time major winner for being a bad example for the tennis community. However, Martina had already forgiven Court for such comments, as revealed by her in the same interview.

“I had long ago forgiven Court for her headline-grabbing comments in 1990 when she said I was a bad role model because I was a lesbian. What I did not know about until now were the unabashed racist statements she made in the 70s about apartheid in South Africa. Saying that South Africa dealt with the “situation” (meaning people of colour) much better than anywhere else in the world, particularly the US: what exactly did she mean by that?,” said Navratilova.

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