‘No Winning Situation Here’ – Martina Navratilova Bluntly Questions the ‘Iffy Decision’ of the Tours to Strip Wimbledon off Ranking Points

Published 05/27/2022, 9:43 AM EDT

A month ago, Wimbledon’s organizers made an announcement considering the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine that garnered mixed reactions. The regulatory body of the Championship decided to not act host to Russian and Belarusian players for this year’s event. However, the decision made in good faith backfired. It suffered a great deal of backlash from tennis fans.

Further, many tennis entities also denounced the ban. From top players such as Djokovic to veterans such as Martina Navratilova, a huge chunk of players raised their voices. Recently, Martina sat down for an interview and justified her side, and explained why banning wasn’t the right thing to do. And also advocated that ATP’s response to the ban was also not correct.

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Martina Navratilova shares her views on the Wimbledon ban

While in an interview with Piers Morgan, the former World no.1 said, “I understand so much where the players and people in Ukraine are coming from. A hundred percent I can so relate to that. I was thinking there’s a big difference between team events and any individual events. And also you have Russian and belarusian players on team sports. For example, Alex Ovechkin playing in for the Washington capitals in NHL not a peep out of anybody that he should not be playing for that team.”

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Further, she added, “So you have a player like Rublev who has disowned the war. He had written on the camera no to war, yet he can’t play. There is no winning situation here. Bad situation with one that on making this rule and now another kind of iffy decision of not giving the points.”

Navratilova’s major rival

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The Czechoslovakian’s greatest rival was the American tennis ace Chris Evert. Their rivalry was the main attraction of women’s tennis in 80s. Though they share some notable achievements. Such as both of them have held the ranking of World No.1 for a record period. In addition, their scores in terms of Grand Slam victories are also tied. Astonisingly, both Chris and Martina have won 18 Grand slams under their name.

However, the head-to-head results favor Navratilova. As she has a lead of 43-37, which will never be amended. Further, Navratilova faced the American in 14 Grand Slam finals, out of which she came out victorious in 10.

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Evert was good on clay and hard courts while Navratilova’s game shined in grass and indoor carpet. Also, Evert was a powerful baseliner, and Martina rested her game upon her ultimate serve-and-volleys.

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Mahima Verma

1034 articles

Mahima Verma is a Tennis writer for EssentiallySports. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Hotel Management from IHM Mumbai. A sports enthusiast, particularly Tennis since her childhood, Mahima believes that she is fortunate enough to witness the legends like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams play.

Edited By: Ajinkya Aswale

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