Martina Navratilova is one of the most successful tennis players. She claimed 18 Grand Slam titles and a total of 167 singles and 177 doubles titles in her career. Further, she has held the ranking of World No.1 for 332 weeks.

The American who built her career at a time when women were gunning for equal recognition in the tennis world played a crucial role behind WTA gaining recognition. However, as per one of her previous interviews, it wasn’t an easy feat for Navratilova.

Martina Navratilova about the difference

Navratilova in an interview spoke about the difference in perception by taking a very subtle yet effective example of Rafael Nadal. She said, “You know, I was looking at Rafa [Nadal], we did an interview with him, and as he walks in I’m like, ‘my God, he’s got a great b**t.” She laughs. “I mean, he’s gorgeous. That’s a compliment, but not in a sleazy way.”

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Thereafter she explained, “The problem with the women is it just becomes very degrading because they’re not talking about them as a person or as an athlete, they’re taking about them as a sexual object. I don’t like that.”

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Further, the veteran has always believed in vocalizing her thoughts. Earlier in her playing days, she spoke about equality for women in the sport. She alongside Chris Evert and Billie Jean King brought light to the matters that deserved attention. Further, apart from tennis, she has invested her efforts towards benefitting animal rights, gay rights and supporting underprivileged children.

Navratilova’s greatest rival

The Hall of Famer’s biggest rival was the 18 times Grand Slam champion Chris Evert. In fact, their rivalry is considered one of the greatest rivalry of all time. While Evert was a powerful baseliner, Navratilova had an outstanding serve and volley game.

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They have locked horns 80 times. In the first 20 encounter, Evert banked 16 victories. However, not much after that, Navratilova touched the peak of her game and the dynamics changed. By the end of Evert’s career, she brought the head-to-head record to 43-37. Further, they encountered each other 60 times in the finals, out of which Navratilova was victorious in 36. Though Evert has a lead of 15-14 in the matches that ran till the third set.