Following the ban on players from Russia and Belarus at Wimbledon, dip into 1843 magazine’s archive to go back in time to the 1986 Federation Cup, where something more than a tennis match took place
It is three o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday July 27th 1986. Every seat is full at the pristine new Stvanice tennis stadium, situated on an island on the Vltava River in Prague. People crouch on the stadium steps, craning their necks, chattering excitedly. Czechoslovakia, the host nation of this year’s Federation Cup, the most important team competition in women’s tennis, is facing off against the United States of America. But something more than a tennis match is taking place.
Although she was a resident of the United States, the peripatetic life of the professional player meant the only place she had truly been able to call home was the 78ft by 36ft rectangle of the tennis court. It was here that she played out her intense rivalry with the fans’ favourite, Chris Evert, as they fought for the number one world ranking. It was here that she weathered the boos, catcalls and shouts of “Go back to Russia!” from the American crowds.
Yet Navratilova could not be ignored. Her presence was magnetic. Jane Brown Grimes, a former president of the United States Tennis Association who was in Prague at the time and has since written about the competition, recalled how crowds flocked to the outside court where the United States team was playing its matches, ignoring the giant stadium where the Czech national team was competing. Passing trains slowed down to let their passengers catch a glimpse of her.
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