Navratilova proposes a radical change to revolutionize tennis

Diego Jiménez Rubio | 7 Jul 2026 | 13.08

Martina Navratilova proposes a change in tennis. Photo: gettyimages

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Martina Navratilova believes that tennis needs a transformation if it wants to regain some of the tactical variety it has been losing in recent years. The American argued on Tennis Channel during Wimbledon for a surprising and forceful measure: reducing the size of the racket heads to give greater prominence to technique.

"If I were in charge of tennis, I would mandate the use of smaller racket heads," stated the 18-time Grand Slam champion. "This way, there would be much more emphasis on technique. It would be more difficult to hit those incredible passing shots or strike so hard while being completely off balance. Technique would regain much greater value."

Martina Navratilova points out the inspiration for her idea to revolutionize tennis

Navratilova believes that the evolution of equipment has favored a tennis excessively based on power and thinks it is time to correct this trend. In fact, she revealed an interesting conversation she had at Wimbledon with Rory McIlroy, who shares a similar perspective from the world of golf.

"I spoke with Rory McIlroy in the Royal Box, and he said he would also reduce the size of the golf club heads. Today they are huge, and the sweet spot is much larger than before. The same thing is happening in tennis," she explained.

The former tennis player is convinced that such a modification would reward precision and pave the way for a much more varied game. "Reducing the sweet spot would require better ball control and reduce speed at certain moments. We would once again see a lot more serve and volley or, at least, more players coming to the net," she concluded.