Martina Navratilova: Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams leaving void in women's game

Martina Navratilova believes women’s tennis is at a crossroads.

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have consistently been the game’s most marketable stars but the Russian faces a ban for testing positive for the prohibited substance meldonium while, at 34, Williams is in the twilight of her playing days.

And Navratilova raised concerns about filling the void in the pair’s absence.

“It feels like a crossroads right now,” said Navratilova. “When Serena doesn’t play it leaves such a gap as she’s been dominating for such a long time.

“And Maria’s absence is another big hole. The two biggest names in the game for the last 10 years publicity and personality wise have been Maria and Serena.

“But Serena has played four tournaments since the US Open and Maria obviously hasn’t been able to play since the Australian Open.”

Williams goes into the French Open as favourite, having made a winning return to competition in her only warm-up event on clay at the Italian Open.

But Navratilova said the world No1 was beatable and that there were players lining up to replace her at the top of the game.

“It’s still a big gap between her and the rest of the field but we’re kind of in a generational changing of the guard,” she added.

“It would be nice to have more of a rival to her but that hasn’t been the case for a few years.

“Saying that, the overall game is in great shape because it’s just so international and there’s a nice mix of players from all cultures and countries going at it.

“The Chinese contingent will come into play in a few years after Li Na’s big success, and she’s left a hole as well.

“But the new generation is knocking on the door, Victoria Azarenka is coming into her own and Angelique Kerber won the Australian Open and is the leader on points this season. With those two, it means it’s not the foregone conclusion that Serena will still be No1 at the end of the year.”