"She sacrificed a lot more than other champions" - Pam Shriver speaks on Martina Navratilova's path to greatness

Tennis pundit and former player Pam Shriver recently recalled Martina Navratilova's journey in the tennis world and pointed out that the Czech legend had to sacrifice a lot to achieve greatness in the sport.

Shriver spoke on the latest episode of Tennis Worthy ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup and reminisced on Navratilova's decision to defect from her homeland in order to accomplish her dreams.

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"Martina sacrificed a lot more than other champions." said Shriver. "She felt that she had to leave her homeland in order to have the freedom and the opportunity to be the best player she could be."

Martina Navratilova is widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time. She won 59 Major titles — 18 in singles, 31 in doubles, and 10 in mixed doubles. The 66-year-old was the World No. 1 in singles for a total of 332 weeks and a record 237 weeks in doubles.

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Navratilova was forced to leave her own country at the age of eighteen in order to pursue her tennis dreams. She returned home 11 years later to play in the Fed Cup in 1986 and recalled the moment as "bittersweet."

"It was a bittersweet moment for me and a bitter sweet moment I think for the people also because they would have liked if I had stayed and got more glory for Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) but at the same time, they were happy that I got out and still succeeded," Navratilova said.

Shriver described the moment Navratilova stepped onto the court in the Fed Cup.

"The moment she stepped out on the court, the crowd was over the moon, excited," she recalled.