“It gets harder as you grow older” Martina Navratilova praises Serena Williams for winning majors even in her 30s

“It gets harder as you grow older” Martina Navratilova praises Serena Williams for winning majors even in her 30s

Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams

18-time Singles Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in the Open Era. Her tally of 59 Grand Slam titles combined across all disciplines is yet to be matched. She remains the only player in history to have been the World No. 1 for over 200 weeks in both the Singles (332 weeks) and Doubles (237 weeks) rankings.

Martina was recently a guest on the tennis podcast, “The GOAT: Serena”, a podcast run by former players Chanda Rubin and Zina Garrison who discuss Serena’s career and her achievements. Praising the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, Martina praised her for being able to win majors even after turning 30 and staying on top of the game even during her 30s, an age where most players start considering retirement.

“What’s most impressive to me is how she won so many majors after she was 30 because it gets harder as you grow older,” said Navratilova. Serena turned 30 in 2011 and since then has won 9 singles Grand Slam titles, 2 doubles Grand Slam titles, Olympics gold in both the singles and doubles competition at the 2012 London Olympics and 3 year-end championships.

Serena went on maternity leave after winning the 2017 Australian Open, her 23rd singles Grand Slam title and finished as the runner-up at the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons denying her the chance to level Margaret Court‘s record of 24 singles Grand Slam titles.

“It is all about the Majors, the other tournaments are basically paid practice” says Martina Navratilova on the growing importance of winning the majors

Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova
Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova

Martina spoke about how tennis has evolved from her playing days to the current situation. She explained how the Tour had nearly equal prize money as the Slams which is certainly not the case today as the Slams today manage to give huge paychecks to the players right from the opening rounds.

She took the example of Serena and the Big-3, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, all 3 men tied on 20 Grand Slam titles each and choose tournaments that helps them prepare for the Grand Slams instead of playing every week on the Tour.

“It’s not a coincidence that right now we have the four people who have won the most (Grand Slam) titles other than Steffi Graf. Novak Djokovic, Rafa, Roger and Serena Williams. That’s all tennis has become; it is all about the Majors. The other tournaments are basically paid practice.

“I would play 70-80 matches every season in singles and I would play doubles as well. The mentality was different and of course, the tour was huge. The tour had bigger prize money than the majors. Evonne Goolagong won 12 thousand dollars for winning the Australian Open, and then Chris Evert won the San Fransico tournament two weeks later and got 10 thousand dollars,” added Martina.

The 2022 season will be exciting as all 4 greats have some record to chase at the Slams while maintaining their fitness, a concern each of them had during this season.

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