Barbora Strycova recently shared fond memories of playing doubles with Martina Navratilova at the 2006 Prague Open.
Strycova played her last match at the 2023 US Open, where she reached the third round in doubles and quarterfinals in mixed doubles. She won the Wimbledon doubles title with Hsieh Su-wei in 2019 and 2023. In 2016, she won the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in doubles.
In the 2006 Prague Open, Navratilova teamed up with Strycova and entered the tournament as the top seed. They won their first match 6-2, 6-3 but were defeated in the quarterfinals.
Nevertheless, Navratilova’s return to her native country after 20 years, having played the 1986 Fed Cup final as part of Team USA was an emotional affair and she revealed she had a tough time keeping herself calm and collected.
“Pretty good. It was nerve-wracking coming out and trying to hold my own in front of a very happy and expectant crowd. When I walked out there and people were cheering so much I had to really concentrate on…I had to do something to keep myself busy, because you want to soak it up, but at the same time you have to win the match,” she said in a press conference in 2006.
Strycova shared pictures from the emotional match and paid her heartfelt tribute to the former World No. 1. She revealed that Navratilova was nervous before the match, while she was star-stuck at an opportunity to play with a tennis icon.
“Throwback to 2006 in Prag, a moment I will never forget. Funny story: At the age of 20, there I was, awe-struck and pumped, as Martina told me in the lockers she was nervous—imagine that, what should I tell her! Playing doubles with a tennis icon in her Czech homecoming after 20 years… after she chose me?! I couldn’t even breathe!” Strycova wrote on her Instagram.
Martina Navratilova continues to involve herself with tennis
Martina Navratilova has been at the forefront of the protest against the WTA Finals being staged in Saudi Arabia. She, along with Chris Evert, wrote a column for the Washington Post earlier in 2024 and expressed their opposition to the crown jewel event being shifted to Saudi Arabia.
“The WTA’s values sit in stark contrast to those of the proposed host. Not only is this a country where women are not seen as equal, it is a country where the current landscape includes a male guardianship law that essentially makes women the property of men,” Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova wrote.
However, Saudi Arabia was announced as the host of the 2024-2026 WTA Finals despite opposition from two tennis legends, with 2024 events to be organized from November 2-9.
