PORTRAIT BY SOPHIA SPRING FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE. WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO ELLA CANTA AT INTERCONTINENTAL LONDON PARK LANE AND THE ALL ENGLAND LAWN TENNIS CLUB

Martina Navratilova was so puzzled when people started calling her a “Terf”, she had to google the acronym to find out what it meant. The former tennis No 1 and veteran LGBT campaigner had seen a tweet, arguing that anyone who self-identified as a woman should be allowed to compete in women’s sport. Navratilova didn’t consider herself an expert in transgender politics, but didn’t think her “gut reaction” would be contentious. “You can’t just proclaim yourself a female and be able to compete against women. There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard,” she tweeted back.

“And then I just got a deluge. ‘You’re so hateful and you’re so ignorant and you’re a