Tennis legend Chris Evert was so prominent that she was pictured on the Wheaties cereal box in 1987, and two years later, she became the first female athlete to host “Saturday Night Live.” Her .900 winning percentage remains the highest of any player in the history of women’s tennis, and she went to the semifinals or better in 34 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments — another record that remains unbroken. She played in her first U.S. Open at age 16 in 1971 and went on to win 101 U.S.
Universally recognized as one of the greatest and most important women’s tennis players of all time, Martina Navratilova's impact was felt by female athletes in all sports. An icon of the LGBTQ community, she was the first female superstar athlete to come out while she was still playing. On the court, she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and a record 31 Grand Slam doubles titles. She spent 332 weeks ranked at No. 1, second only to Steffi Graf.
Shortly after her announcement, Osaka was fined $15,000 by the French Open and warned that she might be defaulted from current and future Grand Slam tournaments if she wasn't accessible to the press. In response, Osaka withdrew from the French Open.