By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday November 19, 2021
The WTA has a long history of advocating in favor of the marginalized. Equal rights for women are at the cornerstone of the tour’s legacy, and we’ve seen that legacy pushed forward by players in 2021.
Naomi Osaka brought mental health issues to the fore like never before this year. At this very moment the tour is taking a stand against China with its reaction to the situation of Peng Shuai, who is currently being censored by the Chinese government for reporting a sexual assault by a high-ranking Chinese official. The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai is trending madly on Twitter, and we’re sure you’ve noticed….
Wednesday night in Guadalajara, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic continued the WTA’s trend of opening hearts and minds, with a moving speech that also doubled as a history lesson at the WTA Finals. After pairing with Katerina Siniakova to win the WTA Finals doubles title, Krejcikova took the mic and told the crowd that Nov 17 was a very special day for Czech and Slovak people.
What, what’s this about? We were all wondering, as she took out her phone and prepared her notes like a professor at the lectern…
Standing behind her during the ceremony, bursting into tears was Navratilova. Of course Krejcikova’s words hit the 18-time Slam champion hard. Martina’s life was turned upside down in 1975 when she defected from Czechoslovakia as an 18-year-old, leaving her family behind.
“So everybody understands what was happening back then, we have here Martina Navratilova who was forced to emigrate from Czechoslovakia because of the regime there. I’m really happy that regime is not there anymore and we can live in freedom.”
Not very often do we get a history lesson at a victory speech, but you know what? We’re here for it. The Velvet Revolution took place in the Czech Republic for over a month in 1989 and resulted in the end of a one-party communist regime.
In June 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections[3] since 1946.
Ah, Freedom!!!!!
The fact that many, including us, were googling “Velvet Revolution” after Krejcikova’s speech, and learning about what the people endured and how they rallied to overcome, was just awesome.
We talked to krejcikova and Siniakova after the speech to see what motivated her to do it.
“I wasn't alive when all this happened so I cannot say that I remember much because I don't, the 2021 Roland-Garros singles champion said. “But I remember that my parents, they were talking about it a lot, everything that was happening before in the other regime. I'm extremely happy that we had some brave people and we had some brave students and citizens in Czech Republic, but also in Slovakia, and that now we can live in a freedom and we don't really have to be scared anymore.”
Siniakova told Tennis Now that she was proud of her partner:
“I think it was amazing. I mean, she's really brave. She wanted to do it because it's really a special day for us. As Barbora said, it's really big holiday for us in Czech Republic. What happened back then, it's really, really hard. I think we should be really happy that we can have this amazing life now.”
As for Martina, Krejcikova got to meet her and talk with the Czech legend and share an emotional moment with her. And we were glad to witness this moment. We learned more about the Velvet Revolution and also got to learn more about what kind of person Barbora Krejcikova is.