"I put on 20 pounds in two weeks while playing tennis; I was actually proud of the extra pounds" - When Martina Navratilova talked about her weight issues
Back in 2019, tennis legend Martina Navratilova opened up about her experience of dealing with her weight while competing on the tour.
Navratilova is a retired Czech-American tennis player who elevated the game with her amazing feats in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. She won Wimbledon a whopping nine times (an Open Era record), the French Open twice, the Australian Open thrice, and the US Open four times. She was also the No. 1 player in the world for 332 weeks.
Together with her former rival Chris Evert, Navratilova participated in an interview in 2019 with BT Sport, where she discussed being overweight while playing tennis. Navratilova admitted that eating too much food while following a different diet was what caused her weight gain, rather than eating junk food.
She once put on 20 pounds in just two weeks as a result, but the 18-time Grand Slam champion was "proud" of the added weight.
"It was not junk food, I just ate too much but it was a different diet. I discovered pancakes, cereal and sugar basically. I mean we didn't have that in chicken stew like that growing up. I put on 20 pounds in two weeks while playing tennis," Martina Navratilova said.
"By the second week which is Dallas I had to buy new shirts cause I did not fit into my shirts, I was actually proud of the extra pounds," the former World No. 1 added.
Martina Navratilova vs Chris Evert: One of the greatest rivalries in tennis history
Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert's rivalry is widely regarded as one of the best in tennis history and also sports in general. They faced each other a whopping 80 times, with Navratilova leading the head-to-head 43-37 and 36-24 in the finals.
In the same 2019 interview, Chris Evert discussed her rivalry with Navratilova and claimed that it was particularly impactful since they had such contrasting personalities and styles.
"The rivalry was so great because we were so different in our game styles and our personalities we brought our own set of fans and it was a real battle out there," Chris Evert said.