Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe apologise for Margaret Court protest

Tennis greats Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe have apologised to Australian Open organisers for an on-court protest.

John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova make their protest on Margaret Court Arena on Tuesday. Picture: Twitter

Former tennis champions John McEnroe and Martina Navrat­ilova have been forced to apologise to Australian Open organ­isers for an on-court protest that violated tournament security as Nine Entertainment stands by its star match commentator.

The tennis greats apologised after Tennis Australia reprimanded them for an on-court protest against Margaret Court that included unfurling a banner saying: “Evonne Goolagong Arena.”

In a statement on Tuesday night, Tennis Australia said it was investigating a protocol breach by “two high-profile guests”.

The famously volatile McEnroe was thrown out of the 1990 Australian Open for abusive language to umpires and abuse of a racquet.

Nine refused to say whether it reprimanded the former US Open and Wimbledon champion for the protest when asked.

McEnroe is contracted to Nine for only some of the highest-­rating night games and is not in the employ of the broadcaster during the day, when the protest took place.

Despite the controversy, this year’s Australian Open has broken ratings records for the network.

Navratilova, an International Tennis Hall of Fame member, said while she stood by her statement regarding Court and the impact her views had had on members of the LGBTIQ community, it was clear she had broken tournament guidelines in place for security reasons. “I got in trouble. I am sorry I broke protocol. I had no idea there was this kind of protocol,” she told the Tennis Channel.

“Had I known, I would have done it differently. I would have still tried to make my statement, which is that you name buildings after not what people did on the court but also off the court ... I stand by that. But I apologise about breaking protocol. I did not need to do that.”

It is not the first time Navratilova has called on officials to change the name of the stadium, having done so initially in 2017.

On Tuesday, she took the opportunity after playing a legends doubles match on the court to climb into the umpire’s chair to make a statement to the few fans who had watched the match.

McEnroe joined her on court, where they unveiled the banner she had made in her hotel room.

A statement from McEnroe was read out on American broadcaster ESPN. Similar to Navratilova, he said he stood by his criticism of Court but conceded he should have paid closer attention to tournament rules.

“Admittedly I was never one to study the rule book carefully or, for that matter, even at times abide by the rules. In this case I was not aware of the Tennis Australia rules and protocol for issuing credentials,” he said.

“For that I apologise to Tennis Australia and recognise and appreciate the great job they have done to make the Australian Open a great event for the fans, players and myself.”