Martina Navratilova faced more than her fair share of hardships to be where she is today. She recently shared one such experience from her childhood while reacting to a tweet about an incident involving an 8-year-old child in Texas. The 18-time Grand Slam champion’s dream of pursuing tennis took a lot more than skills and perseverance. She had to migrate to a different country and fight stereotypes to forge a career in the sport.

Although she has been retired from the sport for close to fifteen years, she is still trying to maintain her connection with her fans, mostly via Twitter. Navratilova has inspired many and keeps sharing small yet vital details of her journey, to inspire the current and future generations. 

Martina Navratilova opens up about how her difficult childhood

The 9-time Wimbledon champion has an active presence on Twitter. She recently reacted in surprise over the news of a mother getting jailed for letting her 8-year-old son walk alone in a suburban neighborhood in Texas. To Navratilova’s tweet, a user responded by sharing his childhood experience.

Replying to the user, Navratilova gave a glimpse of the part of her life that never came under the media’s lens. “At 9 I would take a train to Prague, get on a tram and pick up my dad at his work to go play tennis…” Navratilova shared. 

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With this story, one can understand the legendary player’s dedication to the sport right from a young age, and that’s what made her overcome several trials and tribulations to become the greatest all-format tennis player of all time. 

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Speaking of Navratilova’s childhood, she was born Martina Šubertová, but her parents parted ways when she was just three years old. Her mother, an accomplished gymnast tennis player and ski instructor, later married Miroslav Navratil. Navratil stepped up and took responsibility of a young Martina. He became her first tennis coach and the one who gave her the last name Navratilova.

Challenges that Navratilova faced in her career

The nine-time Wimbledon champion, as a teenager, traveled to the United States to pursue her tennis career. However, immigrating from a communist country at the time raised questions from the authorities about her reasons for moving to the States.

Further, the crowd also raised fingers at her muscular build. They called her out for having an unfair advantage over her petite and feminine opponents, especially when she emerged as Chris Evert’s rival. People pitied the ‘Ice Maiden’ for having to play against Navratilova.

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Following that, she decided to embrace her sexuality. She came out as a lesbian and the criticism became more severe. However, Navratilova always kept her calm and let nothing affect her mental well-being or her performances on the Tour, raking up an astonishing 59 Grand Slam titles by the end of her career.