‘Roger Federer Never Got That..’ – 59-Time Grand Slam Champion Martina Navratilova Draws Unfortunate Parallels Between Men’s and Women’s Tennis Owing to Her Activism

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert are two of the best tennis players of all time. However, even for them, things were not always smooth. While Evert became the “Ice Maiden” and was universally loved, Navratilova got people’s jeer, mainly because of her sexuality. The bold and ambitious Czech-American player came out early in her career and this made many people quite uncomfortable. Navratilova narrated how people treated her in a way that would never occur to Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer.

The criticism was heavy, but she was bold enough to take it down. However, she opened how people kept their distance and mocked her behind her back.

Martina Navratilova compares her treatment by the public with that of Evert, Federer, and Nadal

The Czech-American tennis legend had a glorious career with 18 Grand Slam titles under her name. However, it came at a price. She constantly received criticism, not because of her performances, but due to her sexuality. Navratilova came out as a lesbian as soon as she emigrated to the United States.

So, when she got on the court, the crowd mocked her. Talking about the same in a candid interview with Julie Bindel, she stated, “Everybody was cheering when Chris Evert was introduced or Evonne Goolagong. But when I came out on the court, it was muted applause. There were some jeers, there were some whistles.”

A tennis player thrives on crowd support, so when Martina Navratilova got exactly the opposite, it affected her. She stated, “It was hard to not take it personally, but I realized it was mostly because I was gay and some of it was because I was winning too much.”

Drawing parallels with the ATP legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, she opened up on people’s doubles standards.

She stated, “Roger Federer never got that kind of welcome. Nobody jeers when Roger Federer walks on the court. Or Rafael Nadal. If they’re not big fans or they are in the Federer court, they still cheer when Rafa walks on the court.”

However, people could never confront her. She said, “One-on-one, nobody ever came to me and called me, “You’re nothing but a dyke.” But her friends told her that people were criticizing her in the audience.

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However, her love for the sport was above all this. Therefore, she carried on winning titles while people were busy jeering at her. But, it was not only the crowd. Her family itself did not have a very welcoming reaction at first.

Navratilova on her father’s reaction to her sexuality

Coming out in 1981, especially when you were such a high-profile athlete, was not an easy thing. However, Martina Navratilova did that while knowing a lot of her loved ones would not support her.

When her father got to know about it, she did not hide it. The reality was quite difficult for him to grasp and he went “crazy” knowing about it. Nonetheless, he read books about it and eventually started supporting her.

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The support of her parents helped Navratilova cancel out the noise from outside. As times changed, others both on and off the tennis circuit started showcasing their support. At present, Navratilova shines as one of the staunchest supporters of the LGBTQ+ community.