Navratilova to Djokovic: You’re Trying To Divide Us

By Richard PagliaroMartina Navratilova ripped Novak Djokovic's new players union for creating division at a time when tennis most needs unity.World No. 1 Djokovic resigned his post as ATP Player Council president to form the the new Professional Tennis Players Association in August.More: Wawrinka Aims For Final Surge Hall of Famer Navratilova says given the dangerous and disruptive Coronavirus pandemic which forced the sport's suspension for six months, Djokovic's decision to launch the PTPTA is not only divisive it's "not helpful on any level."“He thinks he’s doing the right thing,” Navratilova told The Irish Times writer Amy O'Connor. “I don’t agree with it but it’s his choice. It certainly didn’t seem to help his tennis. I think you’re better off . . . Not staying in your lane, but right now give your energy to that which helps you. That’s what I don’t understand."Purely from a logical point of view, when you are a champion tennis player, when you commit to the sport, your energy goes into that. Maybe to get away, you watch TV, maybe you do some woodworking, maybe you get into stitching shawls. That helps you relax and it gives you energy."

The former world No. 1 asserts at a time when tennis needs unity the most, Djokovic is creating discord.“But starting this association? This is not helpful on any level," Navratilova told The Irish Times. "Do that when you stop playing tennis but it’s controversial and not helpful."During Covid, you’re trying to divide us further when we should be trying to bring the game together and trying to figure out how to play tournaments without people getting sick and dying from Covid? Let’s stay with that problem rather than creating one we don’t need.”Seventeen-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic believes the PTPA is vital because after years of trying to enact change within the system as ATP Player Council president, he realized the system denies players’ power.“For a lot of decisions to be made, you need the super majority of votes, and if you don't attain that, then there is no voting,” Djokovic said of the ATP’s structure adding players “want more power, more voice and they don’t have it.”

The owner of 167 singles titles and 177 doubles championships, Navratilova praised Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff for speaking out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice.“There and there, you have an example of young women of color speaking out because they see what’s going on,” Navratilova said of Osaka and Gauff. “They’re privileged because they have achieved something and they’re respected for that."But as black women, they know what their mothers and fathers had to go through. So it’s great to see them taking the bull by the horn and taking that bullhorn.”Photo credit: US Open Facebook]]>