“If I’d been straight..” Martina Navratilova once used her sexual orientation in expressing her jealousy with the ‘love’ Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal receive
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Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She is the most decorated player with 18 singles major titles and over 40 doubles grand slam titles. But despite everything, she isn’t the most loved one and is often under the negative limelight because of her actions. She is a pretty active figure on social media and doesn’t fear voicing her strong opinion about any matter- be it tennis-related, social, cultural, or political.
A few years ago, she spoke about how she never received the love of the fans during her playing days even though she dominated the WTA Tour for years. She said that she was never properly accepted and loved and admitted that she is jealous of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who were immensely loved by tennis fans throughout the world.
“I always had a yearning to be accepted and loved, and I didn’t get it for many, many years,” Navratilova said. “To this day I must say I am jealous of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who are always the home team when they are playing.”
Martina Navratilova opens up on how she was never treated well by the fans
Navratilova recalled that during the 1985 US Open final, she didn’t receive support from the home crowd against Hana Mandlikova and it affected her a lot. Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian a few years ago, said that if she had been straight, the love she received would’ve been very different.
“For much of my career, I didn’t have that. Even playing in the finals of the US Open in 1985, the home crowd was going nuts for Hana Mandlíková to win that match. It killed me. It was a difficult time. I’m pretty sure that if I had been straight, the reception would have been quite different back then. But at the end of my career, everyone loved me and now I am a hero. That’s just how it goes,” she said.
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Lakshya Chopra
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