'She said yes!': Martina Navratilova proposes to her girlfriend on big screen at US open

[caption id=“attachment_1703717” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Big screen proposals at major sporting events are not uncommon, but they rarely feature a legend of a sport. This was probably one of the cutest proposals in the sporting history. Tennis great Martina Navratilova proposed to her girlfriend on the big screen of Arthur Ashe Stadium between the US Open men’s semifinals on Saturday. Navratilova popped the question to Julia Lemigova in the Tennis Channel suite, drawing a loud cheer from the crowd. Image: Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1703719” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] “I was very nervous,” Navratilova said later. “It came off. She said yes. It was kind of an out-of-body experience. You’ve seen people propose at sporting events before, in movies, in real life. Here it was happening to me. It was like I was watching myself do it.” Navratilova and Lemigova have been together since 2006. The 57-year-old Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, a mark she shares with Chris Evert. Image: AP[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1703721” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Navratilova said she and Lemigova would prefer to get married in Florida, where they live. A federal judge ruled last month that the state’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, but Florida officials are appealing against it. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1703725” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Navratilova has said that her 1981 US Open finals loss to Austin, when the fans gave her a long ovation as the runner-up, was the first time she felt accepted as a new American citizen and a gay woman. 33 years later, gay couples can marry in 19 states and the District of Columbia. AFP[/caption]