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‘Proud of Her Body’ – Martina Navratilova Was Wildly Impressed With Serena Williams’ Unapologetic Mindset

Published 06/24/2022, 9:11 AM EDT

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Serena Williams is one of the greatest players of this generation not just because of her gameplay but because of her mindset as well. Tennis is a sport, where factors apart from the loss of form and pestering injuries are in action and tend to weigh a player down. One such thing is the crowd taking a shot at the player due to their physical builds.

Tennis fans have always had two sides, the good and the bad. And it’s up to a fan to put a player on either side. In Williams’ case, the days when she was asserting her dominance in the game, her heavy build made tennis fans throw her under the bus. However, at that time Martina Navratilova had her back, as she reminded her of herself and spoke about how impressive her mindset was.

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Martina Navratilova speaking up for Serena Williams

Martina, who was still in the game, spoke about the young rising star being targeted by people for being too muscular and said, “She gets very emotional, fired up and competitive. She’s very intimidating. That’s the biggest similarity between the two of us.”

via Getty

Thereafter she added, “Serena is so physically dominating, people are feeling sorry for her opponents.  – they were feeling sorry for mine. I was very strong, I was very muscular and I played a very aggressive game. But it’s because she is so strong that she wins and she’s proud of her body. She doesn’t apologize for it and I like that. She’s like, ‘hey I’m a strong woman and get out of my way.'”

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Williams, just like the 18 times Grand Slam anticipated, cherished her body and carried her aggressive style of playing to become the legend she is today – Five times World No.1 with 23 Grand Slams and four Olympic gold medals under her name.

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How is Williams performing?

The former World No.1 a few days back made a comeback in the grass courts of Eastbourne. She decided to sharpen her skills in the doubles of the WTA 500 tournament before jumping into the Grand Slam of grass swing. Therefore, Williams partnered with the current World No.3 and the Madrid Open reigning champion Ons Jabeur.

Watch This Story: Top five best Serena Williams outfits of all time

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They played their first game on 21st June on the Centre court. After struggling in the first set, they dominated the rest two sets to meet the Asian duo of Chan Hao-ching and Shuko Aoyama in the quarterfinals. However, just after securing a seat in the semifinals, Jabeur suffered an issue with her knee. Thus ending the Williams’ run as well.

 

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Written by:

Mahima Verma

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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.
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Edited by:

Manaal Siddiqui