Of course, Martina Navratilova is a special player. She tied for the third Grand Slam title in the Open era and ended her career as the most dominant player of her era. But one place she shines more is at the WTA Finals.
The WTA Finals will be held in Cancun, Mexico, on Sunday. But the event has been held in the United States for years. Martina Navratilova says she cared more than anyone else about winning three events in the 1980s: the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the WTA Finals. Her dominance at the WTA Finals is unparalleled.
Navratilova won eight singles titles at the WTA’s year-end event, three more than Steffi Graf or Serena Williams. No player currently has more than one win, so no one will be able to match Martina Navratilova’s incredible record of eight wins anytime soon. Between 1978 and 1986, Navratilova failed to win the WTA Finals only twice.
Martina Navratilova’s unshakable record and her comments about Novak Djokovic
So, it’s clear that Martina Navratilova knows something about winning. She recently talked about how long she thinks another great Novak Djokovic will continue to play, with Navratilova saying Djokovic can play “for another 20 years.” interesting. But since she’s talking about Novak Djokovic, of course anything is possible.
Novak Djokovic recently confirmed his split from long-time agent Eduardo Ataldi. Altardi has been working with Djokovic since 2008. While Artaldi and Djokovic appear to remain good friends, Djokovic appears to be looking to his future after tennis retirement and rearranging his team with that goal in mind.
Djokovic said: “(Attaldi and I) are still friends, but professionally we have decided to take different paths. I am entering a new chapter regarding my off-court approach. The transition will not be easy, but I will keep going.”
Daniil Medvedev rightly asks Paris crowd to keep quiet
Speaking of not being easy, that was the crowd watching the Rolex Paris Masters in Paris this week. In many games, spectators will often yell before a score is scored, or boo or whistle at players for no apparent reason. Some players complain about the rowdy crowds at the U.S. Open, but at the Paris Masters 1000 the crowd was obnoxiously rude.
This is especially true in the Daniil Medvedev vs. Grigor Dimitrov match. Medvedev threw his racket after losing a point to Dimitrov, and the crowd responded with whistles (the French equivalent of boos). The Russian complained to the referee and said he would not play until the whistle stopped.
Medvedev then told the referee: “They’re stupid. If they don’t whistle, I’ll play.” He then told the crowd, “I’ll play, guys, but shut your mouth, okay?” benefit. Maybe the French haven’t seen one of their players become a big part of the ATP Tour in decades, but they should still respect other players.