Wimbledon record-breaker Navratilova on fighting to save women’s game, why Gauff can win it all
- Martina Navratilova tips world No 1 Iga Świątek to amass substantial majors haul, says Coco Gauff is finally living up to ‘hype’
Martina Navratilova, the 18-times singles grand slam champion, said she was fighting to stop the women’s tennis tour from being killed off during her 1980s domination of the sport.
On the eve of this year’s Wimbledon, Navratilova tipped the current star of the female game, Iga Świątek, to “win a lot more majors”, and said an increasingly mature Coco Gauff was beginning to live up to the hype that accompanied her thrilling emergence at the age of 15.
The near £35.9 million (HK$354.5 million) prize pot for this year’s Wimbledon will be divided equally between men and women. All four majors have provided pay parity since 2007, when Wimbledon and the French Open caught up with their Australian Open and US Open counterparts.
Equal pay is not uniformly applied on the regular circuit, although the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has committed to ensuring a complete levelling up by 2033. Ons Jabeur, the world No 10, said the WTA pledge was “not enough”.
“I have always wondered why this plan is now, and why we’re not already getting equal prize money,” Jabeur added.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Navratilova embarking on an unprecedented 74-match winning streak, which landed her 10 regular tour titles, in addition to three grand slams.
