Navratilova Joins in Criticism of Serena

Add Martina Navratilova to the growing number of people who will have to be crossed off Serena Williams' Christmas card list.

From the Miami Herald: Navratilova agrees with Evert's Serena letter

Martina Navratilova will turn 50 in the fall but hasn't lost her love of playing or winning, which she and her doubles partner did Wednesday at the NASDAQ-100 Open. In fact, Navratilova insists, in her uniquely insistent way, that she is serving better now than she was when she was a 47-year-old whipper-snapper. Up to 108 mph from 95.

Here she is, getting fitter, as Serena Williams -- at 24, nearly half Navratilova's age -- gets thicker.

Here she is, competing in Key Biscayne while Williams frolics on South Beach with Paris Hilton. At this rate, Williams will end up just like Paris Hilton, coasting on the vapors of fame. Someday the patrons behind the velvet rope will see Williams sidling through the club's front door at 2 a.m. and murmur, ``Didn't she used to be somebody? A tennis star? Yeah, that's what she was.''

So excuse Navratilova and Chris Evert for expressing alarm about Williams' dwindling dedication to the game. They just cannot suppress their indignant feelings.

''Serena should be in her physical prime, but she is wasting time you cannot ever get back,'' Navratilova said. ``She had the opportunity to be the greatest in history. Instead, she'll be a supernova who burst on the scene, and then she was gone.''

Evert, Navratilova's good friend and former rival, has equally blunt words for Williams in a open letter that will appear in the May issue of Tennis magazine.

''I don't see how acting and designing clothes can compare with the pride of being the best tennis player in the world,'' Evert writes. ``If you're completely happy with the way your life is, crumple up this letter and throw it away. Just remember you have an opportunity of the rarest kind -- to be the greatest ever.''

Williams didn't ask for their advice. She could tell Evert and Navratilova to mind their business. She has done quite well minding her own, winning $16 million and seven Grand Slam singles titles.

If she wants to be a fashion designer and actress, who are Evert and Navratilova to say she should be on a tennis court for hours on end as she has since she was a kindergartner?

Serena and sister Venus, 25, did not choose to take up tennis as little girls. It was their father, Richard, who decided one day when he saw a tournament winner on TV presented with one of those door-sized checks that his daughters would become pros.

He carried out his plan for his self-styled ''Cinderellas of the ghetto'' with a genius that was wholly underestimated.

But don't forget that Richard always said his daughters would be through with tennis by 24 and managing their own companies. He considered players who lingered too long on the court or retired to the TV booth to be one-dimensional ``fools.''

Richard's prophecy appears to be coming true. Serena hasn't won a Slam since the 2005 Australian Open and withdrew here because she was out of shape. Venus, who withdrew with an elbow injury, demonstrated how potent she can be when she won Wimbledon last year, but for most of the past three seasons she has acted spacey and indifferent, except when talking about V Starr Interiors Inc.

We want our athletes to be renaissance men and women rather than robots with heads as empty as the balls they bounce and hit. But when they start losing, we cluck-cluck about the distractions siphoning their potential.

Athletes cannot be dabblers, which is what Serena and Venus have become. Navratilova and Evert saw it coming and are saying out loud what many in tennis are thinking. Now they wonder whether the sisters are going through an Andre Agassi-like detour from the top 10, or a slow fade.

''Serena has a gift, and she's not utilizing it,'' Navratilova said. ``What you really regret are the things you didn't do. Will she get it together, or will she fall so low she'll need wild-card invitations? She may find by then that her head will be there but her body won't. It's a sad situation.''

Navratilova often comes out sounding bossy, but that's because she is incapable of being dispassionate about anything, whether it's human rights symbolized by her Rainbow credit card or the oversized racket heads killing the serve-and-volley style. She and Evert can't help feeling disappointed and betrayed after paving the way for future generations of female athletes.

They were champions of opportunity in the Title IX era. What's ironic is how the Williams sisters are exercising their right of opportunity to pursue other careers.

Navratilova and Evert believe they are passing on the hard-won wisdom of middle age before the Williams sisters get caught in the should-haves of hindsight. But what if Serena and Venus don't want it? What if they've had enough of winning?

Navratilova still hungers for victory at age 49. Yet she can't transplant that desire. So she keeps going while, to her head-shaking bafflement, the sisters who would have broken her records drift away from the game.

Comments

[Ally]

Listen, I'm thrilled Venus and Serena have other interests, too many athletes don't and when they're done with sports don't know what to do with their lives because their only interest was the sport they were playing. They seem like smart young women who have broad interests.

However, if they don't want to play tennis anymore they should just come out and say, "Hey, I had a fun ride, I'm retiring with lots of money and the knowledge that I'm one of the best of all time, I'm tired of the grind and I want to do something else with my time. See you later." Stop saying that you're dedicated to tennis when you're clearly not, stop saying tennis is your #1 focus when it's clearly not.

I think the writer is a little too harsh on Evert and Navaratilova - they don't like to see people wasting their potential and it's clear that both sisters could have been among the Top 5 of all-time if they had kept it together. Chris and Martina played when they got miniscule paychecks and women got the shaft on a regular basis, they have a tough time seeing someone chuck their hard-earned talent for something they have loads of time to do.

[simba leslie]

why are people so concered about what venus and serena do? may be they don't want to play tennis till they are 40 or 50. i think people should just leave them alone. the same people who are criticizing them never encourage them when they did well. people are so hard on them. we will see when they retire, who they will all be focus on. i am so tired of hearing the negative comment about them even when they are not playing. who will represent the USA when they are gone. i

[Ally]

Actually simba leslie, I don't want them to retire - I want to see them on court. When they are at their best, they are beautiful to watch, their athleticism is striking and I love watching them play.

They still have so much to offer the game and they bring in fans who otherwise wouldn't watch tennis.

As for what happens with American tennis after they're gone, well Davenport is on her last legs, who knows when Capriati is coming back, and there really isn't anyone else on the horizon. It's pretty sad.

[Spud Dog]

Evert writes. ``If you're completely happy with the way your life is, crumple up this letter and throw it away. Just remember you have an opportunity of the rarest kind -- to be the greatest ever.''
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I still don't look at the Evert article as a criticism. It seems more like unwanted advice from a great champion who has the advantage of age and experience. Yea, Evert could mind her own business and leave poor Serena alone, but maybe she really cares about Serena. I know she really cares about the state of women's tennis and especially U.S. tennis.

Martina N needs to go jump off a bridge. Her ass can't win singles titles anymore so she has to try for doubles titles. Since day one she as criticized venus and serena. I used to like her, but a time comes when you just need to LET GO! Her ass is annoying...

[Spud Dog]

Now THAT is criticism.

[TinaLeslie]

I think athletes should be allow to do what they want on their spare time. Everybody is saying they are seeing Serena here and there partying who knows if she actually working out in the morning?
Capriati is been out for a while now, I'm sure she's not seating at home watching tennis all day or practicing but do we hear any criticism about it no. So leave the Williams alone. I know the tennis game misses the Williams but this is not the right way to go about getting them back. I think Navratilova is great but I didn't hear her say anything good when Serena and Venus were doing good. I think all these people miss watching great games on TV. If the Williams say they are coming back, they are, so we need to be patient. I rather see them come back in top shape rather than being pressure into playing while not in shape. Why embarrass themselves?

[Spud Dog]

Navratilova did not call a press conference to announce criticism of the Williamses. I'm assuming that some media person asked her about them during an interview. I don't know Navratilova personally, maybe she is deliberately trying to criticize the Williamses. If so, she needs to decline the question and move on with the interview. Maybe she truly cares for the Williamses and is offering them advice from a professional tennis player's perspective. If so, she is right on the money.

The Williamses are free to do (and will do) what they want, but from a tennis perspective, they are not currently pursuing their full potential. This has got to be pretty frustrating to a lot of tour players who would still lose to them today.

[Tyler]

I think the Williams girls should stay right where they are and party for the rest of their lives if they choose. Let all those other girls who aren't nearly half as good (or criticized) save women's tennis. Without the level of athleticism the Williamses bring, the WTA is going to go right back to being a fluff game for the mens matches. Sure they'll have the ones they can sell as pin-ups, but come on, how many female athletes get the kind of respect for their athleticism the Williamses get? The tennis world can't blame anybody but themselves, they should have treated those girls right when their hearts and minds were completely on tennis.

[Spud Dog]

I'm not sure I buy the "we stopped playing because we weren't appreciated" routine.

They are free to do what they wish. The WTA will do (has done) just fine without them. It's U.S. tennis that needs them back desperately. The rest of the world won't miss them much.

If they feel mistreated and decide that the solution is to move on to something else, bravo to them and good luck. It is unfortunate that they were not appreciated more but some of that they brought on themselves. It can be pretty tough as a public figure, you have to enjoy the perks more than the negative stuff.

It's interesting that Serena wants to pursue an acting career. Back in the lime-light to be mistreated all over again?