Martina Navratilova Slams Margaret Court For ‘Pathetic’ Comments About Transgender Youth - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

Latest news

Martina Navratilova Slams Margaret Court For ‘Pathetic’ Comments About Transgender Youth

The tennis great has said she is ‘amazed’ by how homophobic her former rival is.

Published

on

18-time grand slam champion Martina Navratilova has become the latest person to question the decision to honour Margaret Court at the upcoming Australian Open after her latest series of controversial comments.

Court, who holds the record for most grand slam singles titles won in the sport, has been criticised over a sermon she delivered last weekend to her congregation. The former tennis star was recorded making a series of negative comments about the LGBT community. Including saying that being gay was a choice, young transgender people are ‘so wrong’ and she is unable to express her religious views because the media is controlled by ‘the devil.’

“Children are making the decision at seven or eight years of age to change their sex … no, just read the first two chapters of Genesis, that’s all I say. Male and female,” the 77-year-old said during her sermon.
“It’s so wrong at that age because a lot of things are planted in this thought realm at that age, and they start to question ‘what am I’.
“And you know with that LGBT, they’ll wish they never put the T on the end of it because, particularly in women’s sports, they’re going to have so many problems.
“You have got young people taking hormones and having changes, by the time they are 17 they are thinking, ‘Now I’m a boy and really I was a girl’.
“Because you know what, God made us that way.”

Weighing in on the comments, former world No.1 Navratilova has branded them as ‘pathetic’ in a Twitter post. The tennis icon is a pioneer in the gay sports movement after coming out publicly whilst still playing back in 1981. In one interview, she estimated that she lost roughly $10 million in endorsements during the 1980s due to her sexuality and the aids crisis.

“Margaret hasn’t changed her mind on Gays so she sure won’t change it on Trans either- amazing how strong her homophobia truly is.” Navratilova said.

Court has previously been critical of her former rival on the court. In 1990 she said Navratilova was a bad role model due to homosexuality and her ‘life has gone astray.’ She is an opponent of same-sex marriage and once said its legalisation in Australia was promoting ‘abominable sexual practices.’

The timing of Court’s comments comes as the Australian Open prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of when she won all four grand slams within the same season. The organizers of the grand slam have previously distanced themselves from her beliefs. Saying the upcoming celebration marks her career in the sport. However, Navratilova doesn’t agree.

“We don’t need to change or re- write history when it comes to anyone’s accomplishments but we do not need to celebrate them.” She said.
“Margaret Court is hiding behind her Bible as many have done before her and will do after her. Let’s not keep elevating it.”

The Australian Open will begin on January 20th.

Latest news

World No.634 Laura Samson Reaches First WTA Quarter-Final At 16

Published

on

Laura Samon - image via itftennis.com/ photo credi: Manuel Queimadelos

Laura Samson has become the first player born in 2008 to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA event after producing a surprise win on Tuesday. 

The 16-year-old wildcard stunned second seed Katerina Siniakova 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the second round at the Prague Open. Her triumph occurred a day after she dropped just two games against Tara Wurth in her opening match. This week is Samson’s Tour debut after playing 10 events on the lower-level ITF circuit. 

“I’m extremely surprised,” she said during her on-court interview after beating Siniakova. “I didn’t go into it as favorite. I’m so proud of myself and I hope I will continue to play like this. As I was going into the second set I thought, ‘I have nothing to lose, I didn’t play good in the first set.’ I’m not really sure when [I thought I could win], I just believed myself in the third set.” 

Samson is the latest Czech player to break through following a sucessful junior career. Last year she won the Wimbledon girls’ doubles title and was runner-up in the French Open singles tournament in June. She is currently No.3 in the ITF junior rankings but has been ranked as high as No.1. 

Earlier this year, Samson decided to change her name on the Tour by dropping the last three letters (ova). The reason why she did so was to avoid getting confused with another player. 

“I first noticed it last year, there was a problem that I was getting strings (the) of Lyudmila Samsonova,” she told tenisovysvet.cz.

“I also talked about it with her and, for example, according to the schedule, she also sometimes thought she was playing, but it was me,” 

“I would have liked the ending -ová, but unfortunately it turned out like this.”

The teenager will next take on world No.248 Oksana Selekhmeteva with the winner of that match progressing to their first WTA semi-final.  21-year-old Selekhmeteva is a former top 10 junior player who came through two rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. She is a two-time junior Grand Slam champion in doubles. 

There are five seeds remaining in the tournament, including top seed Linda Nosková who will play Germany’s Ella Seidel in her next match. 

Continue Reading

Latest news

Alex De Minaur Overcomes Injury To Fulfil Olympic Dream

Published

on

ASlex de Minaur - Roland Garros 2022 (foto Roberto dell'Olivo)

Alex de Minaur says it is a ‘dream come true’ for him to represent Australia in the Olympic Games after missing the event three years ago.

The world No.6 had been in a race against time to be fit for the Olympic tennis event after suffering an agonising injury setback at Wimbledon earlier this month. At the All England Club de Minaur reached the quarter-final stage for the first time and was set to take on Novak Djokovic. However, he was forced to withdraw from the match after tearing the fibre cartilage in his hip region after suffering a ‘freak’ injury. At the time of the announcement, it was estimated that he would be sidelined from the Tour for three to six weeks. 

However, the 25-year-old appears to have recovered fairly quickly in time for Paris with the tennis tournament starting on Saturday. It will be de Minaur’s debut in the Olympics after he was forced to pull out of the Tokyo Games due to a positive COVID-19 test. 

“To finally be able to represent Australia in the Olympics is a dream come true,” he wrote on Instagram on Tuesday morning.

“I’m very passionate when I play for my country and wear the green and gold, so this is another one of those moments. 

“I’m extremely excited to lace up for Paris 2024.”

De Minaur is bidding to become the first male player from his country to win an Olympic medal in the singles event. He has already won two ATP titles this year in Alcapulco and s-Hertogenbosch. Since the start of January, he has won five out of 11 meetings against top 10 players. 

“It’s really great news – we’re actually expecting Alex to arrive in the village ahead of the official draw (on Thursday) and we know he’s been working with his rehab team quite extensively since the conclusion of Wimbledon,” Australian chef de mission Anna Meares told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

“He’s hungry to be here, he wants to be a part of this team and we will offer as much support as we can in that process.

“He’s coming – we will wait to see that process. He still has time … injury can be a really stressful thing for an athlete and the more you rush it, the more problems you can potentially cause.

“We’re leaving it in the hands of Alex and his rehabilitation team … it will be a decision purely by them.” 

De Minaur is one of five Australian men playing in the Paris Olympics. The others are Alexei Popyrin, Matthew Ebden, John Peers and Rinky Hijikata. 

Continue Reading

ATP

Wrist Injury Threatening To End Holger Rune’s Olympic Dream

Published

on

Holger Rune will have a second medical opinion on Monday before deciding if he is fit enough to play at the Olympic Games, according to his team. 

The Danish world No.17 recently retired from his quarter-final match at the Hamburg Open due to a knee injury. The hope at the time was that his withdrawal would be just a precautionary measure ahead of the Olympics. However, he is also dealing with a second issue that appears to be more serious.

According to TV 2 Sport, Rune has been struggling with a wrist issue and underwent a scan on Sunday which his mother Aneke says ‘doesn’t look promising.’ Aneke is also the manager of her son’s career. Rune’s Olympic dreams now rest on the outcome of a second medical expert that he will visit tomorrow who has a better understanding of the sport. 

“Unfortunately, it does not look promising after the first medical opinion after the review of the scan of the wrist,” Aneke Rune told TV 2 Sport.

“We are waiting for two tennis-specific doctors who will give a second opinion tomorrow (Monday). Tennis wrists look different from regular wrists, so we’ll hold out hope for one more day.” 

Rune is one of three Danish players entered into the Olympic tennis event along with Caroline Wozniacki and Clara Tauson. The country has only won one medal in tennis before which was at the 1912 Games when Sofie Castenschiold won silver in the women’s indoor singles event. 

So far this season, the 21-year-old has won 27 matches on the Tour but is yet to claim a title. He reached the final of the Brisbane International and then the semi-finals of three more events. In the Grand Slams, he made it to the fourth round of the French Open and Wimbledon. 

It is not known when a final decision regarding Rune’s participation in Paris will be made.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending