Rafael Nadal is immortalized at Roland Garros, but the 2024 French Open might be his final curtain call. Amidst all of the talk and debate surrounding this, Martina Navratilova made a noteworthy request regarding Chris Evert and Nadal. The 59-time Grand Slam champion lobbied for her dear buddy Evert to have a statue on the clay at Roland Garros, similar to Nadal.

In a conversation with tennis.com, the 67-year-old tennis legend recently opened up about how even the American tennis legend deserves a statue of her own, calling her the ‘OG queen of clay.‘ She said, “If Rafa has a statue there, then Chris should have one too. They can make room on the grounds; she’s the OG queen of clay.”

In May 2021, a statue of the 22-time Grand Slam champion was unveiled near the Jardin des Mousquetaires and the general public entrance gate. With 14 French Open titles, Nadal’s record at the clay-court major is unparalleled.

Conversely, Chris Evert has won seven titles on the women’s circuit at Roland Garros, setting a record. The eighteen-time Grand Slam singles champion had great success at the French Open from 1974 until 1986. Not only did she praise her friend, but also pushed the organizers to honor her as well. Subsequently, in the same conversation, she also recalled her favorite match at the Roland Garros.

Apparently, she mentioned that it was the 1984 clash where she defeated her then-rival Evert to win the French Open final. Navratilova added, “That was one of the best wins for me…it was about beating Chris on clay in Paris. I made history for myself and for tennis.”

But at the French Open, is there anyone capable of surpassing the 69-year-old tennis legend’s record? The eighteen-time Grand Slam victor recently hinted that Iga Swiatek could break her record of seven victories.

Will Iga Swiatek beat Chris Evert’s Roland Garros record? 

Evert, who has won the most French Open titles as a WTA player, believes that her record can be broken. She said, “Iga is a player on a mission. She’s more focused. She doesn’t get upset at all when she’s losing. She just has all the ingredients to be a champion. She really does. She checks all the boxes — the intangibles and the tangibles.” 

As the major clay-court tournament gets underway this week, the world number one, who has dominated the WTA rankings for the majority of the last two years, will be vying for her fourth Roland Garros triumph and her fifth Grand Slam trophy overall. Swiatek is also coming into the competition with a lot of energy, having triumphed in her previous two clay-court competitions in Madrid and Rome.

With this accomplishment, she became the first female to win the Rome and Madrid titles since Serena Williams a decade ago. It will be interesting to watch how the Polish tennis sensation does in the clay court competitions this year.