Former American tennis star Martina Navratilova is among the top achievers of tennis. The 65-year-old has served the game throughout her life. Starting her career as a teenager, she played the sport till late in her 40s. Later, she picked up the microphone to work as a commentator and tennis expert.

A topic that has been discussed quite often now is mental health. After the pandemic, many tennis stars came out to admit their sufferings openly. While the social media and the reaction from fans mentally affected a lot of people, Navratilova believes it is something that can be handled. Here’s what she said.

Navratilova reacts to the stress in the modern sporting world

The emergence of social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc, has connected fans to entities. While it sounds good for fans, it has a darker side for the athletes. Hate comments and negative trend for a player on social media directly affect their mental health. Former tennis star Martina Navratilova had her say on the issue.

“If social media is your biggest problem,” she says, “you’ve got it good because you have an option of staying away from it.”

Further, she expressed her sympathy for the players struggling with mental health challenges.

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 “The mental issues are real. I’m not belittling them at all, but it’s like we didn’t have the option of having any mental issues because we were too busy,” she added.

Challenges in the life of Martina Navratilova

Born in the Czech Republic, the 65-year-old had a hard time playing tennis in her early days. Back then, her country was going through a political disturbance. The issue directly affected her game as she at times failed to get permission to travel internationally.

This prompted her to take a one-way flight to America, where she took refuge. As a teenager who can not go back to her own country, she faced various hardships in her early days in America. She had to drive her own vehicle to the tournaments and played without a coach for the first six years.

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However, the legendary tennis player didn’t give up and stayed there to see herself end as one of the all-time greats. Her story is surely an inspiration for future generations.