"Thank you misogynist" - Martina Navratilova fires back at 'transphobe' swipe after Chris Evert endorses her over Roger Federer for Wimbledon statue

Martina Navratilova hit back at a brazen swipe taken at her after Chris Evert suggested that the Czech-American tennis legend deserves to have a statue at Wimbledon. Evert's suggestion came following a question floated by an individual, who asked if Roger Federer deserves a statue for the eight gentlemen's singles titles he won at the prestigious grasscourt Major.

The individual asked on X (formerly Twitter):

"Does Roger Federer deserve a statue at Wimbledon?"

To this, Chris Evert, a legendary tennis figure herself and Martina Navratilova's fierce yesteryear rival and present-day close friend, endorsed the Czech-American to have a statue at Wimbledon.

"What about @Martina who's won it 9 times?"

Here, another X user took a vicious swipe at Martina Navratilova and opined that Serena Williams deserves a statue at Wimbledon.

"That bully of a transphobe can go to hell, give it to Serena," the user wrote.

Not long after, Navratilova responded to the user, writing:

"Lol. Thank you misogynist, appreciate the sentiment:),"

Across both men's and women's singles, no player has won the Wimbledon Champions on more occasions than Navratilova. The former WTA World No. 1 lifted her maiden SW19 trophy in 1978, with her final title triumph coming in 1990.

5 of Martina Navratilova's 9 singles titles at Wimbledon came after wins over Chris Evert in the final

Martina Navratilova (L) and Chris Evert (R) (Source: Getty)

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert's first-ever clash in the Wimbledon final in 1978 went the former's way. In the years ahead, the Czech-American would go on to defeat Evert four more times in the final at SW19 (1979, 1982, 1984 and 1985). In two of those finals (1978 and 1985), Navratilova remarkably recovered from a set deficit to ultimately come out on top.

In 2022, Navratilova agreed with a fan on X who claimed that the Czech-American's rivalry with Evert "was the best rivalry not only in tennis but in all of sports".

Two years before, Evert herself had cheekily responded to a post shared by the official Twitter (now X) handle of the ATP Tour, which quoted Novak Djokovic speaking highly about his rivalry with Rafael Nadal. Djokovic had claimed that the pair's "head-to-head is the biggest head-to-head ever in the history of the sport".

Evert replied:

"Well, true... in men’s tennis... @Martina and I played 80 times.."

Navratilova and Evert faced each other in 80 competitive matches, which included a staggering 60 finals. The Czech-American has a 43-37 win-loss record against Evert.