By Franklin L. Johnson
© Natasha Peterson/Corleve

(August 6, 2010) As we look forward to a two weeks of imbibing on that cosmopolitan carnival cocktail that is the US Open, let's take a look back at two dominant US Open champions, who were both game changers and trailblazers. Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl combined to win seven US Open singles titles, but when you factor in their performances in Madison Square Garden, former home to the ATP and WTA Tour season-ending championships, their shared presence in the Big Apple was potent to the core.

We live in a fast-food, disposable culture where the latest is often touted as the greatest.

As a life-long New Yorker, I've attended the US Open for more than 30 years now and when you read today's tennis coverage it seems everyone goes GOAT hunting from among this present pack of players.

That's perfectly fine and understandable — few players who have ever picked up a racquet in this great game's history can claim to reside in the same rare air of our elite champs, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams and now the Bryan brothers have staked their chapter in the record books for winning more titles than any doubles team in tennis history —  but before you start viewing the prior generations as about as relevant as the eight-track tape player (note to iPod generation, look it up on Wikipedia), let me clear the air on the Great Debate.

There is no debate and no question when you peruse those grand tennis pastures looking for the mythical GOAT you can still find that champion among champions on TV today.

Martina Navratilova is the greatest champion, male or female, ever to pick up a racquet. Period. End of story.

Why?

Because she was a game-changer who revolutionized the way players played and trained, because she won on every surface in a career that spanned four decades, because she was one half of the greatest rivalry in our sport's history and played and beat a wider range of opponents than any other woman, because she won titles in every discipline our game offers and because her numbers are astoundingly astronomical.

Martina Navratilova owns records that no one —  man or woman —  will ever come close to breaking. Among her off-the-charts records: 167 singles, 1777 doubles titles and 18 singles, 31 doubles and 10 mixed doubles crowns. You can combine the career totals of half a dozen former World No. 1 women from today and you won't even come close to compiling half of those numbers.

But it's more than numbers, its the fact that Martina beat virtually every top champion she could beat along the way and she played this game with a purists passion, it was attacking, aggressive all-court tennis that no one else is playing these days.

They were cast as moody Czechs with dour dispositions when they first burst onto the international scene, but ultimately Martina and Ivan opened the era of better athletes through excellent diets and training.

They were never fully accepted in America, even after they became citizens, because they were uncompromising and dedicated to self-improvement, unlike many of our most revered and self-indulgent home-grown champs, who lived jaded lifestyles.

I am a New Yorker of the Studio 54 bright lights and glamorous glitz era and I can tell you from living it that Martina and Ivan didn't fit our idea of what jet setters should be like.But they weren't looking to make a mark in the gossip pages, they wanted to peak for Grand Slams and they both emerged as champions supreme.

Ivan went quietly into retirement, but he then took up golf. Now, his daughters are all fine players of golf, not tennis.

What does this tell you? It says we don't take good care of our champions. We allow them to fade into complete obscurity. This should be considered a national disgrace.

Look at how Althea Gibson died. She was living in near poverty and almost total obscurity for many years. How can American tennis continue to cannibalize its champions from Big Bill Tilden to Pancho Gonzalez to Althea Gibson to Jennifer Capriati?

Unfortunately, when it comes to American tennis there's a lot more questions than answers these days.

.Tennis Now contributing writer Franklin L. Johnson is a writer, poet and avid tennis player based in New York. He has covered professional tennis for three decades. His recent columns include What Do Roger Federer and Andy Murray's Coaching Changes Mean? American Anthem Needs New Tune, Tomas Berdych Played Tame Final and A Case For Vera.