Serena Williams ‘paved the way’ for mothers to keep playing tennis, says Martina Navratilova
Serena Williams ‘paved the way’ for mothers to keep playing tennis, says Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova believes Serena Williams paved the way for women to keep playing tennis.
The iconic tennis player, who turned 37 last week, said her playing days were coming to an end but that tennis should not affect her career.
Martina Navratilova believes Serena Williams paved the way for women to keep playing tennis.
The iconic tennis player, who turned 37 last week, said her playing days were coming to an end but that tennis should not affect her career.
“I am thinking of retiring, ” Williams told the BBC in a documentary that aired on Tuesday.
“There’s no doubt that tennis is in a way an art. It’s an experience like no other. If you try to imitate or copy that, you’re out, and you’ll never get another chance. I’ve been working as hard as I could, and sometimes I just can’t do it anymore.
“As a young girl growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, I watched tennis. I also saw a lot of women play tennis and I was like, ‘Oh my God, what a wonderful game.’
“I’d already played tennis, so to get to see it first-hand was special because it really was an art form at the time: the way you move your body, the way you go forehand or backhand, the way you put the ball on the court. And then, slowly … and then eventually, you get to see more and more women play like me.
“For me, tennis is in a way an art. It’s an experience like no other. If you try to imitate or copy that, you’re out, and you’ll never get another chance. I’ve been working as hard as I could, and sometimes I just can’t do it anymore.”
But what really took the focus away from tennis could be a reason he was “lucky to be alive” by Navratilova, who played 18 years with the likes of John Mc