via Imago

Novak Djokovic recently collected his fifth Laureus Sportsman of the Year award, while Martina Navratilova made a special appearance to talk about his remarkable accomplishments. However, as they don’t have the best track record of being friends, the Hall of Famer became a target of scrutiny from fans, who also called her an “odd choice” for the special occasion for the Serb. Amid all the backlash though, like light at the end of a tunnel, the former WTA player was recently hailed by the American Congresswoman, Claudia Tenney.

On X, the American attorney and politician brought to light a video clip showing Martina Navratilova talking about Djokovic’s remarkable achievements in the previous season, in which he won three Grand Slam titles. While sharing the video, Tenney also heaped praise on the WTA veteran for changing women’s tennis in the modern era. She tweeted, “Martina is an icon. She changed the world of women’s tennis in the modern era.”

The American Congresswoman is singing the praises of the former tennis ace amid all the criticism she is facing from a flurry of Nole fans. It looks like the fans haven’t forgotten about her past candid statements about the current number 1 player, who was accused of deliberately creating drama during this season’s Grand Slam event in Melbourne.

Why is Martina Navratilova being criticized by Novak Djokovic’s fans?

While it’s not uncommon for players to resort to various ways to motivate themselves during a match, it seems Novak Djokovic might have an eccentric and controversial method, according to Navratilova.

During his first-round victory at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic had a heated confrontation with fans, which also caught the attention of the WTA veteran. In a previous episode of the Tennis Channel podcast show, Martina Navratilova opened up about her theory of how the Serbian player sometimes deliberately gets involved in negative encounters with spectators in order to get fired up on the court. She said, “And sometimes, Novak does that with fans. He just picks on one and it gets him fired up.”

While drawing parallels between John McEnroe and Djokovic, the Hall of Famer also accused the Serb of creating drama to get himself going during his matches. The former tennis player said, “He kind of reminds me of John McEnroe, creating a drama to get himself going.” While we don’t know how much truth there is to her claims, it definitely didn’t sit well with many.