‘Serena Paved the Way’ – Martina Navratilova Says Serena Williams Showed Athletes How to Juggle Motherhood and Sporting Careers

Over the past few years, we have seen many women making a comeback to tennis after entering motherhood. Take the example of Serena Williams. The American legend gave birth to her daughter in September 2017. Subsequently, she made a return to tennis in the first half of the 2018 season at the Miami Open.

Although her comeback ended in a losing cause, Serena found her rhythm back soon after. Serena made it to the finals of the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open later that season. Recently, tennis legend Martina Navratilova revealed how Serena set an example for athletes to strike a balance between motherhood and their sporting careers.

Martina Navratilova is all praise for Serena Williams

During an interview, Navratilova talked about how Serena showed female athletes to continue playing tennis after becoming mothers. She said, “For women it was either-or, but now Serena proved you can have both. There are plenty of other mothers on the tour who have done really well.”

Further, she added, “The biggest reason we didn’t see it – there are a couple – the care wasn’t there, the money wasn’t there, and also women just chose to have babies and then they didn’t come back.”

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Talking about the longevity of female athletes’ careers, Navratilova said, “But now I think Serena kind of paved the way for motherhood and to still be an athlete. I think you will see more and more women playing well into their 30s, maybe into their 40s.”

Navratilova reveals what Serena lacked in her tennis career

Although the 23-time Grand Slam champion has tasted massive success in her tennis career, Navratilova picked one thing which Serena lacked during her playing days. Talking about this, she said, “She wasn’t lucky enough to have a Chris (Evert).”

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Navratilova and Evert formed one of the greatest rivalries in tennis. Despite their intriguing encounters, the two maintained a great bond off the court and mutual respect for each other.