‘I Got Enough for the Plane Ticket’ – Martina Navratilova Narrates Harrowing Experience Despite Being an Elite Player in the 80s

Martina Navratilova is a tennis legend who has made a name for herself by winning 18 Grand Slam titles. She has been an inspiration to many and has struggled through her early stages when she did not have a lot of money to take part in the events. Martina did not have enough resources to even travel to different countries and partake in tournaments.

The legend narrated an event where she had to face financial difficulties and stayed resilient till the end.

Martina Navratilova on her early struggle

Martina reminisced about her initial struggles where she had to hustle her way to Melbourne in order to play the Australian Open.

“I flew from Czechoslovakia for 40 hours before I got here and I needed to make some money to buy a plane ticket to the United States. Then I played Evert in the final. Of course, playing an Aussie, the crowd was cheering for her. It wasn’t anything like it’s now, but it’s still.”

Navratilova expressed that she was happy and grateful enough to be in the final.

“My first Christmas away from my family was rough, but I get to the finals, so I can’t really complain.” 

Navratilova also discussed the amount she had played for when she played the Australian Open final.

“Guess how much money I won through getting to the finals? $6,000. I got enough for the plane ticket, but nowadays, you just need to show up for a tournament and you will have enough money to buy many plane tickets…so, different times back then.”

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Navratilova shared a legendary rivalry with Chris Evert

Martina Navratilova has been an inspiration to many players. The Czech born started playing tennis when she was very young and played several sports alongside tennis. Martina is known for her iconic rivalry with Chris Evert. Recently, it came to be known that Chris Evert has ovarian cancer. Martina has wished her well and has full faith that Evert will recover well.

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Both the players met each other a total of 14 times in the finals of the grand slam and their rivalry have given us the perfect example of healthy competition.