Martina Navratilova is best known for her success at Wimbledon. Nine of her career 18 Grand Slam singles titles came at the All England Club.
Yet, she was stellar on all surfaces. At Roland Garros, on the red clay that blunted her powerful game, it was, in terms of singles, her least fruitful major. Still, she won a total of 11 titles — two in singles, seven in doubles and two in mixed doubles.
So when Navratilova says that clay is the “great equalizer,” she knows of what she speaks.
“I mean, you could have 15 different women win at Roland Garros this year,” she said recently. “Twice as many could do some damage in Madrid and Rome, too.”
For the record, eyeing the clay gauntlet that is Madrid, Rome and Paris, Navratilova, of course, loves Iga Swiatek’s chances, provided she is healthy. Navratilova is a big fan of Ons Jabeur’s diverse, creative game but wonders if she’ll be able to rise above a calf injury that forced her to retire from the Stuttgart semifinals. Don’t get her started on Maria Sakkari, a semifinalist at Roland Garros two years ago whose best surface, according to Navratilova, is the dirt.
Outside of the usual suspects, we also asked the esteemed Tennis Channel analyst to focus on under-the-radar players ranked outside the Top 15. Who does she see with the potential to create surprises in Madrid, Rome and Paris? Here’s a quarterfinal-plus worth of possibilities.
Martina Trevisan (No.20): Here’s another clay titlist from 2022. Trevisan won in Rabat, defeating two-time major champion Garbiñe Muguruza along the way, and rode that momentum all the way to the Roland Garros semifinals. “She’ll hurt you when you’re not playing your best tennis,” Navratilova said.
Jelena Ostapenko (No.22): Two days after her 20th birthday, the Latvian did the unthinkable. Ranked No.43 without a single match-win at Roland Garros coming in, she won the title. Ostapenko was the first unseeded woman to win the title since 1933 and the first player, man or woman, to win her first tour-level title at a major since Gustavo Kuerten. “You know what happened a few years ago,” Navratilova said. “It could happen again — you never know with her.”
Donna Vekic (No.23): She defeated No.18-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova — another seasoned player to watch this clay season — in Stuttgart before falling to Karolina Pliskova in a third-set tiebreak….