Throughout her legendary tennis career and beyond, Martina Navratilova has always chosen to stand for what she believes to be right. Even at the age of 66, she has become an advocate for women’s tennis and LGBTQ+ rights. But the journey to her current state has been wrought with challenges and battles. Around 48 years ago, after entering the tennis circuit, the young gun from the now Czech Republic was stranded without a home country. Recently, she brought up the 48-year-old memory by revealing her emotions during that haunting moment.

The 59-time Grand Slam champion has always been open about how she chose the life that she wanted, irrespective of the difficulties and external pressure.

Martina Navratilova recalls the time when she was granted political asylum

As the 2023 US Open is currently going on, the 66-year-old tennis legend recalled her US Open moment when she requested political asylum after defecting from communist Czechoslovakia. And now, several decades later, a tennis fan brought this moment to light and highlighted the day when an 18-year-old non-American tennis player was looking to find a home during the US Open.

The fan wrote, “On this day in 1975, 18-year-old tennis star Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, who would go on to be one of the sport’s greatest, requested political asylum in the United States. Navratilova made the request in New York, where she had been playing in the U.S. Open.”

Reminiscing about the same after so many years, the 59-time Grand Slam champion re-shared the post and wrote, “And what a day that was…”

It was a time when, just like a lot of her countrymen, the 66-year-old tennis player herself struggled under communist rule. After her asylum request, Navratilova was stripped of her Czechoslovakian citizenship in 1981 and became an American citizen, leaving all the political baggage behind her.

READ MORE – Emulating Martina Navratilova’s US Open Prediction, Novak Djokovic Puts Out His Bet for This Year’s Women’s Champion

However, her Czech citizenship was later restored when she became one of the first openly gay athletes to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000. Since her retirement in 2006, the activist has hardly been quiet and has chosen to speak up about a lot of political issues.

Last year, the former world number-one tennis player talked about taking her own stand on various social and political topics.

When Navratilova talked about taking a political stand

In an interview with the Guardian, the trailblazer of women’s tennis clearly opened up about fighting for women’s rights, even if it invites criticism. She said, “You know me; I’ve always tried to do the right thing rather than the popular thing.” 

WATCH THIS STORY – The Journey of Roger Federer to the Elite Billionaire’s Club

After standing up for her rights during the early stages of her career, she is now known as a proud women’s rights advocate. From time to time, she has shared her strong opinions on having trans women compete in the women’s sports, despite facing a lot of criticism, including threads and defamatory slurs.