Barbora Krejcikova took a moment to pay a tribute to tennis legend Martina Navratilova following her doubles final at the WTA Finals. On Monday, Krejcikova and her Czech partner Katerina Siniakova fell just short of winning back-to-back WTA Finals titles as Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens won 6-2 4-6 11-9.
Navratilova, who captured a total of 59 Grand Slam titles across the singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions, was in attendance for the final. Krejcikova, who is also a Grand Slam champion in singles and doubles, said she feels lucky to have a good relationship with Navratilova.
“I mean, for me, a very special person, Martina, that is here. I just want to thank you that you are here and that you are still supporting tennis. I’m really happy that you still love tennis. You give us a lot of support and I have to say that I’m really happy that I know you and was able to meet you in person and I feel I’m really lucky,” Krejcikova told Navratilova, per Sportskeeda.
Navratilova received a special tribute from Krejcikova
Recently, Navratilova opened up about one of her biggest life goals – to be a great role model for the kids. “I always felt that responsibility as a role model.
I always thought about the kids first. When I came out, it was also a reflection on the LGBT community. Certainly for women and lesbians more than anybody else. So I always felt that responsibility, but I always felt it, to begin with, to the kids,” she continued.”
I didn’t throw my racquet on the court, I didn’t do anything I was embarrassed about on the court, because athletes are supposed to be role models, and I took that role seriously. I didn’t really do anything that was really really bad,” Navratilova recently explained in a video posted on Julie Bindel’s YouTube channel.