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McRambis t1_jd3esee wrote

Reply to comment by bakerzdosen in Martina Navratilova, 66, says she's cancer-free in interview by PrincessBananas85

I know what you mean. I was always rooting for someone else as a kid and I don't know why I never clicked with her. As an adult I totally respect her and consider her to be one of the greatest tennis players ever.

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bakerzdosen t1_jd3g05m wrote

I’ve thought about it a bit since making that comment.

I think not only was it about rooting for the underdog or similar, it was just that she wasn’t as personable of a player. In her post-playing years you got to see a bit more of her personality, but when she was playing, she kinda came across as that stereotypical eastern-bloc Ivan Drago-type athlete.

That made it easy to dislike her - especially in the Cold War climate during which she played.

These days I don’t think of her that way at all, but at the time, according to my own (potentially faulty) memory, her interviews and the political climate of the day made her seem… cold.

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McRambis t1_jd3ktxc wrote

I understand. For me it was probably because Evert was prettier. That's was probably enough for <10yo me to root against her.

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bakerzdosen t1_jd3qm9t wrote

Not gonna disagree there. I’m sure there was some of that for me as well.

Now explain why ≈7-10 year old me liked Borg over McEnroe. :P

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