"So tired of answering" - Martina Navratilova annoyed at 'best of 5 sets' query directed at women's tennis

Martina Navratilova expressed annoyance at being asked about women's singles tennis matches at Grand Slams potentially being best-of-five-set affairs. According to Navratilova, Chris Evert and other former WTA players had offered to play five-set matches at Majors similar to the men's but were rejected.

On Friday, December 21, a tennis fan tagged Navratilova and Evert on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote:

"When are women going to play best of 5 sets now they are on equal pay but only play max of 3 sets to earn same money of men playing 5 sets."

Martina Navratilova, irked by the fan's question, quipped back:

"I am so tired of answering this question. We offered to play 3 out of 5 decades ago and were told no. So here we are. Ok?"

The fan later responded to Navratilova, writing:

"I wasnt aware that decades ago you had said you would play 5 sets it was a genuine question it was not just said to wind anybody up i apologise if it came across that way."

The former World No. 1 and 18-time singles Major champion replied to the fan and reiterated her initial take on the subject.

"No worries. We offered decades ago and were told no," Navratilova wrote.

This isn't the first time that Navratilova got irritated by a fan's take on the best-of-five-sets subject. In 2022, the Czech-American tennis legend clapped back at a fan after her staggering WTA Tour-level title haul was downplayed.

"It's pretty sad" - Martina Navratilova on her title haul being compared to Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and other men's achievements

Martina Navratilova (Image Source: Getty)

Tennis journalist Jose Morgado took to X in June 2022 and shared a list of men's players who have won the most titles in their respective careers. The list featured legends Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. However, Morgado erroneously started the post with the phrase 'most singles titles' without specifically referring to men or women.

"MOST SINGLES TITLES, Jimmy Connors, 109, Roger Federer, 103, Ivan Lendl, 94, Rafael Nadal, 92, Novak Djokovic, 87."

Pam Shriver, a former World No. 3 in singles, corrected Morgado.

"167 @Martina beats them all," Shriver wrote.

However, a fan later downplayed Martina Navratilova's title haul, suggesting that none of her Major wins came on the back of best-of-five-sets matches.

"When they start playing bo5 sets we will care," the fan stated sarcastically.

Navratilova took notice of the fan's post and replied:

"We offered to play 3 out of 5 in the 80’s, were rebuffed. If that’s your argument, it’s pretty sad. I would have loved to have played 3 out of 5- less pressure…"

Interestingly, in a 2013 interview with Laureus, Navratilova had opined that best-of-five-sets matches would not be sustainable for men in the long run, citing injuries suffered by the likes of Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray.