Navratilova Bags on Bush Hurricane Relief Effort

While laid-up after knee surgery, Huber and her husband Tony used their down time to organize relief efforts and lobby fellow WTA Tour players for donations, starting the "Katrina Foundation."

"I had knee reconstructive surgery and I was home and laid up on bed and just had rehab," Huber said. "I had the time. Right place, right time. I mean, wrong situation. But here I needed to help. I couldn't sleep. I knew I had to help. So I called Martina and I said, 'I need help.'...In the end, we helped a bit more than 20 families -- and we're still going, of course."

Huber found by speaking with families that they were starting over and basically needed everything -- a house, clothing, food, school supplies, medical care, transportation, etc.

"You name it," Huber said of the hurricane victim's needs.

"I would actually drive from shelter to shelter and go talk to (victims), whether it was Red Cross, or we opened a shelter in my church and we had 200 people, so some families (were helped) from there," Huber said. "Some of the families would tell other families. Just word of mouth."

Navratilova lauded her doubles partner's effort, and also criticized the Bush Administration for failing to get money and basic necessities to the victims.

"Liezel stretched the dollar a long way," Navratilova said. "She really did. It was amazing. It's amazing what can be done when people try. It's so scary when how much money was supposedly given for these people, and the money's not getting to them. They never got it. If you pay -- each family should get a hundred thousand dollars and they haven't seen it. Where is the money? I mean, this administration is ridiculous, the way they make promises and they do not follow through at all."

Huber was also frustrated with what she saw of the U.S. government's lack of effectiveness.

"I want to go to Washington DC and knock on the door and say, 'Where is this money for the families? Where is this money?"'" Huber said. "Because this is all they're asking, is 'When are we going to get our house back?' or 'When are we going to have money to buy a car?' They don't have anything. They rely solely on us, and 'us' meaning me and my husband."

Huber says the families she helps are primarily from New Orleans.

"They're from the worst areas," Huber said. "And they were the families that got out last, and that's why they ended up in the Astrodome in Houston."

WTA players also contributed to the aid effort, with fans and players able to make contributions through the website Liezelscause.com.

"Martina really was out and out, you know, out and out the most generous," Huber said. "Then of course I got help from Lisa Raymond, Jennifer Capriati, and Nathalie Dechy gave us quite a bit also."

Both Huber and Navratilova were questioning their ability to play again once their respective knee surgeries healed, and said the relief effort took their minds off their own problems.

"You don't have that time to feel sorry for yourself, which in essence makes rehab a lot easier because you realize you are very fortunate," Huber said. "So just grateful. You know, just being grateful to play. And here both of us didn't know we would be able to play again, and here we are in the finals of this tournament."

Navratilova commented that 100 percent of the donations, and much of their own money over and above that, went directly to the families.

"Liezel is very efficient, very smart, so she'll -- I knew that was the best money I could spend," Navratilova said. "Forget sending it to the Red Cross. I knew this was like, Okay."