"The press would ask... and it's portrayed as whining or b*tching" - When Martina Navratilova called out her media treatment compared to Chris Evert

Martina Navratilova once voiced frustration with how the media treated her, particularly in comparison to her arch-rival Chris Evert. Navratilova lamented being asked for her opinions, only for the press to frame her responses as complaints.

Navratilova never shied away from speaking about her struggles with the way she was treated by the media, admitting that she had learned to "censor" herself after being "ripped" apart by the press in the 1970s, something she felt Evert never had to endure.

By the time her 1985 interview with the New York Times rolled around, Martina Navratilova had grown tired of repeatedly being asked about the same topics, which revolved around her defection from Czechoslovakia, her diet, and her fitness routine.

"How I started playing. My defection. I ended up making things up when they asked about my defection - it got boring just saying the same thing over and over. My carbohydrate diet. My exercises. They ask the same questions again and again, hoping to find something new when there is nothing new to be found," Martina Navratilova said.

Navratilova also expressed frustration with how the media twisted her words, portraying her as if she was whining or complaining when she was merely sharing her opinion.

The then-World No. 1 further contended that she and her arch-rival Chris Evert could engage in identical behavior, yet she would be denounced while Evert got away unscathed.

''I could never understand it. The press would ask me my opinion, and I would answer, and the next day it's portrayed as whining or b*tching or complaining," she said.

''If Chris and I do the same thing, I'll be criticized and she'll come off smelling like a rose," she added.

Martina Navratilova: "I've learned to control myself and now I'm being criticized for it, they're saying I'm too serious on the court"

Martina Navratilova (Source: Getty)

During the same interview, Martina Navratilova reflected on how she had made the effort to control her temperament, only to be criticized for being too serious when previously she was condemned for her outspokenness.

However, the Czech-American disclosed that she didn't let these judgments affect her, taking solace in the knowledge that her loved ones understood her true personality and appreciated her "soft side."

"I've learned to control myself, and now I'm being criticized for it, now they're saying I'm too serious on the court," Martina Navratilova said. "I know what I am and I think people who care enough know what I am. They see the soft side inside me.''

Navratilova also revealed that she fed off the energy of the crowd, regardless of whether they were supporting her or not.

"I think I feed off the crowd either way - good or bad. If it's good, if they're with me, I get excited, and if they're not, I think, by God I'm going to make it through this crap," she added.

However, Martina Navratilova did confess to feeling frustrated by the overwhelming lack of crowd support she endured when she faced a local high school student Eleni Rossides in the first round of the 1985 Virginia Slims of Washington.