Martina Navratilova responds as LTA threaten Eastbourne Tennis event ahead of 50th birthday

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova voiced her concern with the LTA’s future plan for Eastbourne Tennis ahead of the tournament's 50th birthday.

The LTA are in talks to downgrade the Devonshire Park event to a WTA 250, which would restrict the number of players from the world's top 30 to just three.

The plan is to create a new women's event at Queens, a week after the French Open and a week before the men's tournament in west London.

Get the best Brighton coverage straight to your inbox - sign up for our newsletter now

It would represent a huge blow for the Eastbourne tournament, which was founded in 1974 and has been running for 50 years as the women’s top pre-Wimbledon tune-up.

Navratilova holds the record for the most Eastbourne singles titles with 11 and she was also granted the freedom of Eastbourne – the town's highest civic honour.

"That would be a shame,” Posted the 20-time Wimbledon champion. “Those grass courts are absolutely fantastic!"

Of the Eastbourne tournament, the Czech born player previously said: "I've got lots of great memories. I've been playing there since its conception in 1974, so I feel we have sort of grown up together. It's always nice to be there because there's such a relaxing atmosphere.

"You can walk to the courts from the hotel and walk to the restaurants, you don't even need a car. When the weather is good it's as good a place to be as any, especially in the build up to a Grand Slam. It's as good as it gets really."

The proposed shift to London appears to be profit driven. LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said: “The reality of that location [Eastbourne] is commercially limited to some degree. Given we invest in that temporary infrastructure for Queen’s each year, we think we will be successful in selling out and giving the women’s event that level of visibility, which is greater. It’s not about looking to concentrate our tournaments in London, so to speak.”

Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce chief executive Christina Ewbank urged the LTA to rethink: “Please don’t contribute to the two-tier economy of this country where London becomes ever richer and the rest of the country suffers.”