Navratilova Sounds Off on Greatest Of All Time
Navratilova Sounds Off on Greatest Of All Time
Martina Navratilova is preparing herself for an arduous time later this year, scaling Mount Kilimanjaro for the Laureus Sports Foundation. So the winner of 59 major titles in women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles has decided to get tough with two of the biggest names in tennis: Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
Navratilova knows a thing or two about all time greatness. And she is insistent Federer’s time as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) may be just a passing phase while insisting that Serena just isn’t sufficiently committed to contest the female equivalent with the likes of Steffi Graf, Margaret Court, and of course Navratilova herself.
This year’s stellar performance by Rafael Nadal, winning the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S.Open titles as well as cementing the year ending world no.1 spot with months of the season remaining, has left Navratilova full of admiration.
“Can Roger Federer win another Slam? Maybe, but his era is definitely over,” she insisted. “As long as Nadal stays fit, Federer will never be the World No 1 again.
“Roger’s pushing 30 while Nadal has a good five years on him. I started to notice my powers of recovery began to wane at 26 and 27 so Roger’s gone very well and stayed hungry. But he cannot get any better, whereas Nadal’s only now getting into his stride.
“Federer’s time as the world’s greatest ever men’s player may prove short-lived because Nadal could surpass all the records. He has nine Slams already to his name and the French Open is pretty much a gimme for him for the next few years unless, like last year when he lost to Robin Soderling, he gets injured.
“You can be pretty safe in predicting Nadal will claim two Slams a year for the next five years, so that puts him on 19 Slams and I’d be confident in saying he should get to 20 at least. Having won already on all four surfaces, he will be the greatest tennis player of all time.”
But if Federer might think he’s got the rough end of Navratilova’s tongue, he comes off lightly compared to Serena. “’Nobody is good enough on the WTA Tour to make the no.1 ranking their own except for Serena, and she doesn’t want it,” insisted Navratilova.
“Everyone knows Serena is the best woman player and has the talent and physique to become one of the all-time greats. But she doesn’t play enough tournaments in the regular season to even be world no.1.
“Caroline Wozniacki doesn’t feel like a true world no.1 when she has never won a Grand Slam title. It’s only happened once in the men with Marcelo Rios, but it seems to be the norm with the women, Wozniacki following on from Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina.”
Topics: Female Equivalent, French Open, Greatest Of All Time, Laureus Sports, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Mixed Doubles, Mount Kilimanjaro, Next Five Years, Open Titles, Passing Phase, Pushing 30, Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Sports Foundation, Steffi Graf, Stellar Performance, Tennis Player
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