Martina Navratilova, a former Czech–American player, recently reacted on the current Men’s tennis no. 1 player, Novak Djokovic and the constant drama involving him. She compared his behaviour to former American player John McEnroe.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion, was once again making headlines in the Australian Open, however, this time it wasn’t just for his dominating performance but for a verbal spat with a heckler. The incident riled up the Serbian and he went on to defeat his second-round opponent, Alexei Popyrin in four sets.
Earlier this season, Novak suffered an injury scare on his right wrist which caused hindrance in his performance. However, the timing of the injury was pointed out by the fans, as Novak was losing that game to Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the United Cup. According to these fans, it was just a way for him to escape the backlash of a loss against his opponent.
A culmination of these events combined with the history of Djokovic stirring drama or being a part of it has drawn criticism from not only fans but several tennis-analysts. Martina Navratilova, a former WTA player, recently featured on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast where she commented on this topic.
Speaking on the podcast, Navratilova pointed out the similarities she sees between current World No. 1 Novak and former World No. 1, John McEnroe. She said that both share this trait where they use antics and negative emotions to boost their spirits and performances.
“He kind of reminds me of John McEnroe, creating a drama to get himself going. And sometimes, Novak does that with fans, he just picks on one and it gets him fired up. But you know, whatever works, sometimes, when the crowd gets negative on you, he goes negative, but it works for him,” Navratilova said.
“At the end of the day, he wins most of those matches even though he looks like he’s losing it emotionally, you know. But he never loses a point because of that, I think it just gives him extra energy, whatever works, yeah,” she further elaborated.
“I call it like I see it,” Martina Navratilova calls Novak Djokovic a ‘class act’
Martina Navratilova, a popular and well respected voice in tennis shut down a troll who called her out for her ‘class act’ take on Novak Djokovic.
Navratilova took to Twitter to label Djokovic a “class act” for how he handled Medvedev’s retirement in their semi-final encounter. In return, she was called out for her take on this incident at the Astana Open, calling her ‘desperate.’
In response, Navratilova defended herself saying that she wasn’t biased to anyone and that ‘she calls it like she sees it’.
“You guys are really reading way too much into this either way. I was doing the dishes this morning and had the match on without sound. Just watched the face expressions and body language. And this was my takeaway. I call it like I see it and that’s all there is to this:),” she tweeted.
You guys are really reading way too much into this either way. I was doing the dishes this morning and had the match on without sound. Just watched the face expressions and body language. And this was my takeaway. I call it like I see it and that’s all there is to this:).
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) October 8, 2022
