Serena Williams ‘paved the way’ for mothers to keep playing tennis, says Martina Navratilova
This article is more than 1 year old
This article is more than 1 year old
Martina Navratilova was widely praised after admitting she was wrong about the game she once played and the mother who taught her a lesson on sexism.
The tennis legend told the Guardian on Friday: “The first woman I played with was Serena Williams.
“And when she asked my advice, I told her, ‘Don’t play any more tennis unless you want to get hurt.’ In that moment, I felt I could do it.
“Serena paved the way for a lot of women to keep playing tennis. She was a pioneer because she did something no one had ever done before.”
Navratilova, 94, became the world’s most celebrated female tennis player in the 1960s. She was a pioneer – a pioneer of the role of women in sport, after all, and her playing career was a watershed. She won nine Grand Slam singles titles, all four major singles titles at Wimbledon and two majors at the US Open.
Despite this, Navratilova said she was “wrong” about one important thing – that women should stay in the locker room once they have won a match.
She said this was one of many “mistakes” she might have made as a player.
“I should have been a better role model for women. Why didn’t I think of it? It was because I had some other goals, other thoughts in my mind.”
Her views represent a long-held belief that the female tennis player can take it all in their stride once they have beaten the male counterparts.
Navratilova’s comments on Friday were in stark contrast to