Martina Navratilova faced a lot of atrocities during her early days. At first, she didn’t receive a warm welcome as an immigrant in the United States of America. The veteran moved to the nation as a teenager and, owing to the lack of understating of the western culture, fell prey to hostility.

Following that, she came under the microscope for her physique. Navratilova was the only payer who could hold a candle against Chris Evert. However, because of her muscular build, tennis fans dragged her and pitied the feminine and petite Evert. Though she was well aware of this happening as her own mother warned her about the same.

The mindset of Martina Navratilova

The 18 times Grand Slam champion in a 2016 interview spoke about how she was always aware of the outlast related to her body approaching her. “My mom told me to cover up my arms ever since I was little because I was muscular. She wanted me to be feminine.” She said.

Thereafter, she explained, “My body was what it was, and I worked it to be a better tennis player. Nowadays I’m hearing from woman players that they don’t want to get into the gym and get stronger because they don’t want to look more muscular than they are.”

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“I’m thinking that’s crazy. You’re a female athlete. You do what you need to do to be the best tennis player you can be.” Navratilova added. The former World no.1 not only fight for her own but also showed full support to the 23 times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams who faced similar allegations. Williams was accused of having an advantage over others in years around her debut.

Navratilova’s greatest rival

The Czech American tennis ace would have achieved a lot more if she was to play in a different era than Chris Evert. Navratilova debuted a few years after the American. In those years, Evert managed to have the entire sport in her palm.

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However, after losing 16 out of the first 20 clashes, the nine times Wimbledon champion slowly found the grip over different surfaces of tennis. By the end of Evert’s career, Navratilova successfully brought the hard and grass courts under her dominance and ended the head-to-head record with a lead of 43- 37.