"Almost in tears" - Navratilova on Wimbledon decision

Martina Navratilova claimed Wimbledon was letting politics “destroy tennis” in an emotional interview on LBC Radio.

Speaking from personal experience, having renounced her Czech nationality in 1975 at the height of the Cold War to take US citizenship, Navratilova said she was “almost in tears” at the decision. She said:

“Exclusion is not the way to go. And as much as I feel for the Ukrainian players and Ukrainian people… I think this is just going further than [the AELTC] needed to be going, quite frankly. I think it’s the wrong decision. It’s unfair to the whole world. There’s so much bad going on. I think this is not helpful."

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She finished off with:

“I understand the banning of teams, of course, but on an individual level, I just think it’s wrong.”