Martina Navratilova took women's tennis to a new level with her speed, determination and agility. She won the Wimbledon women's singles title a record nine times and has been described by many as "the greatest singles, doubles, and mixed doubles player who's ever lived". In all, Martina has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles an all-time record , and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles; in total she has won 59 Grand Slam titles.
She still plays at all the Grand Slams where she takes part in the legends doubles. Martina has been described as honest, feisty, self-deprecating, courageous, controversial and a Rennaisance woman. She's always told it from the heart, never flinching from an unpopular comment or cause if she believes it to be right.
She is a global icon for lesbian and gay rights and is, as she describes it herself, a citizen of the world. In Martina married her long-time partner Julia Lemigova. In she teamed with American Betsy Nagelsen to win the Australian Open doubles title, earning a Career Grand Slam in that category, one of only nine female players in history to record this feat.
At the Australian, she partnered with Leander Paes of India to win the mixed doubles crown, and she became one of only four female players in history to win a Career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. Navratilova bulldozed and mowed down opponents in historical proportions.
She won 13 consecutive WTA singles titles that year, highlighting a career in which she won at least one WTA singles title 21 consecutive times No matter where Navratilova was playing, she throttled her competition. She captured the defunct Virginia Slims of Chicago a record 12 times and lost only one set in the process.
At the Eastbourne International tournament held in the United Kingdom, Navratilova won 11 times, dropping only three sets. Navratilova seemingly appeared on the professional tour out of thin air. In her career, Navratilova was ranked in the World Top 10 in singles 19 years , including five consecutive years at No. She spent a massive total of weeks at the No.
She began playing tennis at age 4. Navratilova defected to the United States in , and became a U. Navratilova won her first major title in doubles with Evert at the French Open. The duo would face each other a record 80 times Navratilova holding a edge and 61 times in tournament finals Evert holding a edge. Evert defeated Navratilova in 21 of their first 25 matches, but Navratilova defeated Evert at Wimbledon in her first major singles title, , , , , , , and ; the Australian in and ; the French in ; and the US Open in Evert earned victories at the French in , , and and the Australian in The campaign was earned at a That magical season saw the beginning of a match doubles winning streak alongside Shriver.
From to , Navratilova played in 23 consecutive singles finals. Navratilova prevailed at Wimbledon in and the US Open that same year, her fourth and final title at Flushing Meadows. After losing to Evert in the semifinals of that year's US Open in September, the year-old Navratilova went to the offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in New York City and informed them that she wished to defect from Communist Czechoslovakia.
Within a month, she received a green card and in became a US citizen. Also, in , Navratilova teamed with then world number one, Chris Evert, to win the French Open women's doubles title, Martina's first major title outside of mixed doubles.
Navratilova won her first major singles title at Wimbledon in , where she defeated Evert in three sets in the final and captured the world No. Navratilova successfully defended her Wimbledon title in , again beating Evert in the final in straight sets, and earned the World No. Just before Wimbledon in , Navratilova and Evert played possibly the highest scoring women's professional match ever in the Eastbourne final, in which Evert edged Navratilova 7—5, 5—7, after facing match points herself.
It was Navratilova's only professional double bagel loss one she later avenged with a crushing 6—2, 6—0 defeat of Evert in the finals of the same Amelia Island event in It was at this point that Navratilova began working with Nancy Lieberman to improve her fitness and toughen her mental approach to better compete with Evert and fulfil her true potential. In , Navratilova won her third major singles title by defeating Evert in the final of the Australian Open.
Navratilova also defeated Evert to reach the final of the US Open, where she lost a third set tiebreak to Tracy Austin. Navratilova won both Wimbledon and the French Open in After adopting basketball player Nancy Lieberman's exercise plan and using Yonex isometric midsize graphite-fiberglass composite racquets, Navratilova became the most dominant player in women's tennis.
After losing in the fourth round of the first major event of , the French Open, she captured the year's three remaining major titles the Australian Open was held in December at that time. Navratilova's loss at the French Open was her only singles defeat during that year, during which she established an 86—1 record. Her winning percentage was the best ever for a post professional tennis player. During , , and , Navratilova lost a total of only six singles matches.
This included a run of 13 consecutive victories over her closest rival and world-ranked No. Navratilova's reign from to is the most dominant unbroken spell in the professional era. Navratilova won the French Open, thus holding all four major singles titles simultaneously. Her accomplishment was declared a "Grand Slam" by Philippe Chatrier, president of the International Tennis Federation, although some tennis observers countered that it was not a true slam because the titles had not been won in a single calendar year.
Navratilova extended her major singles tournament winning streak to a record-equalling six following wins at Wimbledon and the US Open. Navratilova's victory meant she became the first player to win majors on clay, grass and hard court on the same year. She entered the Australian Open with a chance of winning all four titles in the same year. A left-hander, Navratilova completed a calendar grand slam in women's doubles in , partnering right-handed Pam Shriver, a tall and talented player whose most noted stroke was a slice forehand, a shot virtually unheard of in the game today.
This was part of a record match winning streak that the pair achieved between and Navratilova was ranked the world No. From through , Navratilova reached the women's singles final at all 11 major tournaments held during those three years, winning six of them.
From through , she reached the Wimbledon final nine consecutive times. She reached the US Open final five consecutive times from through and appeared in the French Open final five out of six years from through In , Navratilova played in what many consider to be perhaps the best woman's match of all time, the French Open final against Chris Evert.
Navratilova battled back from 3—6, 2—4 down to all in the third set, before Evert hit a winning backhand passing shot on match point to defeat Navratilova 6—3, 6—7 4 , 7—5. Her greatest success came at Wimbledon, where she advanced to 12 singles finals, winning nine titles.
Navratilova retired from singles play in , but continued to play in doubles matches. In , she won the mixed doubles championship at Wimbledon. Three years later, she repeated the accomplishment with a win at the U.
Coupled with Navratilova's on-court success came her openness about her sexual orientation. The couple wed on December 15, , in New York City. In April , Navratilova revealed that she had breast cancer. After six months of treatment, she became cancer-free. In retirement, Navratilova hasn't completely stayed out of the public eye.
In March , she made her debut on Dancing with the Stars. She's also continued to remain active. Navratilova still regularly plays tennis and competes in triathlons. Additionally, she has served as a fitness ambassador for the American Association of Retired Persons. In , Navratilova announced plans to open an academy for young tennis players in her home country, the Czech Republic.
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