Martina Navratilova, Who Is Game for Adventures on and off the Court, Once Drew Parallels Between a Reality Show and Tennis: ‘Playing Doubles Is a Dance’

Published 10/19/2022, 11:10 AM EDT

One of the best tennis players Martina Navratilova has achieved success in all competitions, whether it is single, double, or mixed. The legendary tennis player finished her career with 59 Grand Slam victories. She won 31 major championships in doubles, among them. The legendary tennis player participated in “Dancing with the Stars” after a successful tennis career.

The former world number one discussed the similarities between dancing and playing doubles on a tennis court in an interview after the performance. Similar to how one must coordinate while dancing, playing doubles requires good coordination with one’s partner.

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Martina Navratilova drew parallels between dancing and playing doubles

The former world number one competed in the renowned dance competition over ten years ago. Though she fell short of taking home the trophy on the dance floor, she undoubtedly learned a lot. Navratilova was never much interested in dancing, but she just wanted to give it a try. The tennis star did, however, once discussed how she found playing doubles to be similar to what she did on the show.

She said, “You know, it’s a dance. I mean, actually, that’s a good comparison because playing doubles is a dance. It’s a partnership emotionally and physically, so you know you need to support each other.” The understating that takes place while doing these two activities are similar.

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The 18-time Grand Slam champion also discussed how difficult it was for her to practice dance. She also made a distinction, noting that while in tennis the head moves first, this is not the case in dancing, and she finds it difficult to correct this one flaw. She also added how she learned the dance moves and gave her best.

Navratilova doubles partners

The legendary American tennis player was a fantastic doubles player, and her best doubles team was Pam Shriver. They collectively won 20 doubles Grand Slam titles. But after competing in the 1989 US Open, they ultimately broke up their partnership. Together with Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, and Betsy Nagelsen, the former world number one has won the remaining 16 major championships.

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WATCH THIS STORY – Martina Navratilova’s epic appearance on Dancing with the Stars

Notably, despite having left the sport for so long, her rivalry with Chris Evert is still widely discussed. They dominated tennis for an entire year, and not just in doubles.

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Written by:

Pratishtha Prakash is a Tennis writer at EssentiallySports. She has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and Journalism from MIT ADT University, Pune. In the past, she has interned at the sports desk of The Hitavada, a regional English daily newspaper.

Edited by:

Hitesh Nigam

Martina Navratilova, Who Is Game for Adventures on and off the Court, Once Drew Parallels Between a Reality Show and Tennis: ‘Playing Doubles Is a Dance’

Martina Navratilova drew parallels between dancing and playing doubles

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Navratilova doubles partners