'''Martina Navratilova''' (born October 18 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former World No. 1 woman tennis player. She is generally considered to be one of the greatest female tennis players of all time.

Originally from Czechoslovakia, she defected to the United States in 1975 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981. During her career she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 40 Grand Slam doubles titles (31 women's doubles and 9 mixed doubles). She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon a record 9 times. She is also well known as openly being lesbian, in a time when acknowledging being non-heterosexual was not as common as today.

Tennis career

Navratilova was born '''Martina Šubertová''' in 1956. Her parents divorced when she was three, and in 1962 her mother Jana married Miroslav Navrátil, who became her first tennis coach. Martina then took the name of her stepfather (adding the feminine suffix "ová"), thus becoming '''Martina Navrátilová''' .

In 1972 at the age of 15, Navratilova won the Czechoslovakian national tennis championship. In 1973, aged 16, she turned professional. She won her first professional singles title in Orlando, Florida in 1974.

A left-handed serve-and-volleyer with superb volleying skills, Navratilova raised the women’s game to new levels with her power and aggression. She struggled with her weight in the early years of her career and was at one point unflatteringly labelled the “Great Wide Hope” by the journalist Bud Collins. However, her determination to reach the top of the game saw her embark on a punishing routine to get herself into shape that eventually made extreme levels of fitness and conditioning a hallmark of her game.

Navratilova was a finalist at two Grand Slam singles tournaments in 1975 - losing in the final of the Australian Open to Evonne Goolagong and the French Open to Chris Evert. After losing to Evert in the semifinals of that year's U.S. Open, the 18-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.

Navratilova won her first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1978, where she defeated Evert in three sets in the final and captured the World No. 1 ranking for the first time. She beat Evert in the final again to successfully defend her Wimbledon title in 1979.

In 1981, Navratilova won her third Grand Slam singles title by defeating Evert in the final of the Australian Open. Navratilova also reached the final of the U.S. Open, where she lost a third set tiebreak to Tracy Austin. Navratilova won both Wimbledon and the French Open in 1982.

The mid-1980s were the most dominant period of Navratilova's career. After losing in the fourth round of the first Grand Slam event of 1983 - the French Open - she captured the year's three remaining Grand Slam 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 amazing season, during which she established an 86-1 record. Her winning percentage that year is the best ever for a professional tennis player. During 1982, 1983, and 1984, Navratilova lost a total of only six singles matches.

Navratilova won the 1984 French Open, enabling her to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. This was extended to a record-equalling six consecutive Grand Slams following wins at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She entered the 1984 Australian Open with a chance of winning all four titles in the same year. However, in the semifinals, Helena Suková ended a 74-match winning streak (a record for a professional) by beating Navratilova 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Navratilova succeeded in winning all four Grand Slam women’s doubles titles in 1984, partnering Pam Shriver. This was part of a record 109-match winning streak that the pair achieved between 1983 and 1985. (Navratilova was ranked the World No. 1 doubles player for a period of over three years in the 1980s.)

In the three years from 1985 to 1987, Navratilova reached the women’s singles final at all 11 Grand Slam tournaments she entered, winning six of them (and extending her run of triumphs at Wimbledon to a record six consecutive).

A new threat to Navratilova's dominance, in the form of the young German player Steffi Graf, emerged on the scene in 1987 when she beat Navratilova in the final of the French Open, whipping both relentless forehand ''and'' deft, sliced backhand passing shots out of Navratilova’s reach. Navratilova beat Graf in the 1987 Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals (and at the U.S. Open became only the third player in the Open Era to win the women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles at the same event). But Graf’s consistent play throughout 1987 allowed her to obtain the World No. 1 before the end of the year. (Graf eventually went on to break Navratilova’s records of 156 consecutive weeks and 331 total weeks as the World No. 1 singles player, but never came close to breaking Navratilova's record 167 singles titles as Graf topped out at 107.) In 1988, Graf won all four Grand Slam singles titles, beating Navratilova 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in the Wimbledon final along the way. In 1989, Graf and Navratilova met in the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, with Graf winning both encounters in three sets.

But Navratilova was to have one final Grand Slam singles triumph, in 1990. Graf was knocked-out in the Wimbledon semifinals that year by Zina Garrison. In the final, the 33-year old Navratilova blew away Garrison 6-4, 6-1 to claim a record-breaking ninth Wimbledon singles crown. Though that was her last Grand Slam singles title, Navratilova made two further major finals in the years that followed. In 1991, she lost in the U.S. Open final to the new World No. 1 Monica Seles. And then in 1994, at the age of 37, Navratilova reached the Wimbledon final one last time where she lost valiantly in three sets to Conchita Martinez.

In 1994, Navratilova retired from the singles tour. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.

Since 2000, Navratilova has returned to the tour to play doubles events, while occasionally also playing singles. In 2003, she won the mixed doubles titles at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon partnering Leander Paes. This makes her the oldest ever Grand Slam champion (aged 46 years, 8 months). The Australian Open victory made her only the third player in history to complete a “boxed set” of Grand Slam titles by winning the women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles at all four slams. The Wimbledon win allowed her to equal Billie Jean King’s record of 20 Wimbledon titles (in singles and doubles combined) and extended her overall number of Grand Slam titles to 58 (second only to Margaret Court, who won 62). Navratilova won a singles match at the first round of Wimbledon in 2004, aged 47 years and 8 months, to make her the oldest player to win a professional singles match in the open era.

Over the course of her career, Navratilova won 167 top-level singles titles (more than any other player in the Open Era) and 176 doubles titles. Her most recent title came on May 27, 2006, at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France, where she won the women's doubles event partnering Liezel Huber. Her last Tier I title came on August 21, 2005, at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where she won the women's doubles event partnering Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her career: 9 at Wimbledon, 4 at the U.S. Open, 3 at the Australian Open, and 2 at the French Open. Her overall record in 67 Grand Slam events was 306-49 .862 (120-14 at Wimbledon, 89-17 at the U.S. Open, 51-11 at the French Open, and 46-7 at the Australian Open).
On July 5, 2006, Navratilova announced that this Wimbledon would be her last, and by the end of the 2006 season she would retire from doubles play. On July 6, 2006, Navratilova played her last ever match at Wimbledon, losing in the mixed doubles to Israel's Andy Ram and Russia's Vera Zvonareva in the third round of the mixed event. Earlier on the same day Navratilova lost her women's doubles quarter final match against Chinese fourth seeds Zi Yan and Jie Zheng.

Personal life

According to Mike W. Martin, author of ''Everyday Morality'', Navratilova labels herself "bisexual", not lesbian, although she says that she thinks the label sounds "creepy." Moreover, she admits that, as an adult, she has been attracted primarily to other women.

In her autobiography, Being Myself http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0586069224/sr=8-25/qid=1153662812/ref=sr_1_25/104-9055583-3524702?ie=UTF8 , Navratilova says that she had romantic crushes on teachers of both sexes and, later, felt strongly attracted to other female tennis players, but she didn't realize that these attractions had a sexual dimension until she was 18 years old, when she was seduced by another, older woman, and had her first overtly homosexual relationship, which she describes in her autobiography: "When it finally happened, I said, this is easy and right.... I was in love, just like in the story books, and everything felt great."

However, her parents--especially her father--were disturbed by the news of her bisexuality, which her father characterized as her "sickness." During one of the many arguments that ensued Navratilova's coming out, her father remarked that he'd preferred that she'd been a prostitute rather than a lesbian.

According to Martina, Navratilova feared that her bisexuality might disrupt her application for American citizenship following her defection from Czechoslovakia, a country in which, Martina points out, "gays were sent to insane asylums and lesbians never came out of the closet."

In 1981, shortly after being granted U.S. citizenship, Navratilova took the bold step of coming out publicly about her sexual orientation. In response to media speculation about her relationship with the author Rita Mae Brown, Navratilova became one of the first major sports stars to announce that she was a lesbian.

Navratilova’s openness about her sexuality almost certainly cost her millions in endorsement opportunities.

From 1983 to 1991, Navratilova had a long-term relationship with partner Judy Nelson. Their split in 1991 was messy and included a much-publicized legal wrangle.

Navratilova also made a humorous guest appearance on the gay-themed NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' in a 2000 episode in which a flashback revealed that she had been a heterosexual until a 1985 relationship with Karen Walker turned her gay .

She released an autobiography, simply entitled ''Martina'', in 1985 and also co-wrote three mystery novels in the 1990s.

Activism/Politics

When not playing tennis, Navratilova is involved with various charities that benefit animal rights, underprivileged children and gay rights. She filed a lawsuit against Amendment 2, a ballot proposition in Colorado designed to deny certain benefits to gays and lesbians. In the same year, she spoke before the National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights.

In the year 2000, she was the recipient of National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian activist/lobbying group. http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbiansinsports/p/Martina.htm

A vegetarian, Navratilova has appeared in ad campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In an April 2006 interview, she said she had recently begun eating fish again because she found it hard to get enough protein while on the road.

She has also spoken out on a number of volatile political issues-including tort/litigation reform-but perhaps her most consistent theme-aside from promoting the views of the gay and lesbian community-has been her unstinting opposition to Communism, and unrepentent opposition to the former Eastern Bloc power structure that she believes compelled her to flee her native Czechoslovakia.

For example, on a recent segment of the Leonard Lopate Show-in which she was promoting her new fitness training book-she denounced the Soviet Union's control over Czechoslovakia, maintaining that she refuses to speak Russian to this day because of the Soviet Union's former hegemony over Eastern Europe.

When questioned by the host about her fellow Czechs' reaction to her defection she averred that they welcomed it, and that their hostility was directed towards the Communist regime in power, not her.

"Whenever I hear some say, 'Oh, Communism isn't bad,' I say, 'why don't you livein in a Communist country if you think it's so great?'" http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2006/08/04

Trivia

The character Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova from the animé series Slayers was named after her.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (18)

  

width="50"
'''Year
width="175"
'''Championship
width="175"
'''Opponent in Final
width="100"
'''Score in Final
1978	Wimbledon	Chris Evert	2-6, 6-4, 7-5
1979	Wimbledon <small>(2)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-4, 6-4
1981	Australian Open	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-7, 6-4, 7-5
1982	French Open	Andrea Jaeger	7-6, 6-1
1982	Wimbledon <small>(3)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-1, 3-6, 6-2
1983	Wimbledon <small>(4)	Andrea Jaeger	6-0, 6-3
1983	U.S. Open	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-1, 6-3
1983	Australian Open <small>(2)	Kathy Jordan	6-2, 7-6
1984	French Open <small>(2)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-3, 6-1
1984	Wimbledon <small>(5)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	7-6, 6-2
1984	U.S. Open <small>(2)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	4-6, 6-4, 6-4
1985	Wimbledon <small>(6)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1985	Australian Open <small>(3)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-2, 4-6, 6-2
1986	Wimbledon <small>(7)	Hana Mandliková	7-6, 6-3
1986	U.S. Open <small>(3)	Helena Suková	6-3, 6-2
1987	Wimbledon <small>(8)	Steffi Graf	7-5, 6-3
1987	U.S. Open <small>(4)	Steffi Graf	7-6, 6-1
1990	Wimbledon <small>(9)	Zina Garrison-Jackson	6-4, 6-1

Runner-ups (14)

'''Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1975 Australian Open Evonne Goolagong 6-3, 6-2
1975 French Open Chris Evert 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
1981 U.S. Open Tracy Austin 1-6, 7-6, 7-6
1982 Australian Open Chris Evert-Lloyd 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
1985 French Open Chris Evert-Lloyd 6-3, 6-7, 7-5
1985 U.S. Open Hana Mandliková 7-6, 1-6, 7-6
1986 French Open Chris Evert-Lloyd 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
1987 Australian Open Hana Mandliková 7-5, 7-6
1987 French Open Steffi Graf 6-4, 4-6, 8-6
1988 Wimbledon Steffi Graf 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
1989 Wimbledon Steffi Graf 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
1989 U.S. Open Steffi Graf 3-6, 7-5, 6-1
1991 U.S. Open Monica Seles 7-6, 6-1
1994 Wimbledon Conchita Martinez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

 

Tournament	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995-2003	2004	Career Championships/Total Played
Australian Open
French Open
Wimbledon
U.S. Open
Yearly Championships/Total Played

NH = not held

DNP = did not participate in the tournament

Grand Slam doubles titles

Women's doubles titles (31)

'''Year Championship Partner
1975 French Open Chris Evert
1976 Wimbledon Chris Evert
1977 U.S. Open Betty Stove
1978 U.S. Open Billie Jean King
1979 Wimbledon Billie Jean King
1980 U.S. Open Billie Jean King
1980 Australian Open (Dec.) Betsy Nagelsen
1981 Wimbledon Pam Shriver
1982 French Open Pam Shriver
1982 Wimbledon Pam Shriver
1982 Australian Open Pam Shriver
1983 Wimbledon Pam Shriver
1983 U.S. Open Pam Shriver
1983 Australian Open Pam Shriver
1984 French Open Pam Shriver
1984 Wimbledon Pam Shriver
1984 U.S. Open Pam Shriver
1984 Australian Open Pam Shriver
1985 French Open Pam Shriver
1985 Australian Open Pam Shriver
1986 French Open Andrea Temesvari
1986 Wimbledon Pam Shriver
1986 U.S. Open Pam Shriver
1987 Australian Open (Jan.) Pam Shriver
1987 French Open Pam Shriver
1987 U.S. Open Pam Shriver
1988 Australian Open Pam Shriver
1988 French Open Pam Shriver
1989 Australian Open Pam Shriver
1989 U.S. Open Hana Mandliková
1990 U.S. Open Gigi Fernandez

Mixed doubles titles (9)

'''Year Championship Partner
1974 French Open Ivan Molina
1985 French Open Heinz Gunthardt
1985 Wimbledon Paul McNamee
1985 U.S. Open Heinz Gunthardt
1987 U.S. Open Emilio Sanchez
1993 Wimbledon Mark Woodforde
1995 Wimbledon Jonathan Stark
2003 Australian Open Leander Paes
2003 Wimbledon Leander Paes

Singles Titles (167)

* 1974 - Orlando
* 1975 - Washington D.C., Boston, Denver, Charlotte
* 1976 - Houston, Sydney
* 1977 - Washington D.C., Houston, Minnesota, Detroit, Edinburgh, Charlotte
* 1978 - '''Wimbledon''', Virginia Slims Championships, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Detroit, Kansas City, Eastbourne, Phoenix
* 1979 - '''Wimbledon''', Avon Championships, Oakland, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Richmond, Atlanta, Phoenix, Brighton
* 1980 - Colgate Series Championships, Kansas City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, Dallas, Amelia Island, Orlando, Montreal, Richmond, Tokyo
* 1981 - '''Australian Open''', Avon Championships, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Dallas, Chicago, Orlando, U.S. Indoors, Tampa, Tokyo Cup
* 1982 - '''French Open''', '''Wimbledon''', Toyota Championships, Eastbourne, Canadian Open, Filderstadt, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, Sydney, Hilton Head, Orlando, Brighton
* 1983 - '''Australian Open''', '''Wimbledon''', '''U.S. Open''', Virginia Slims Championships, Eastbourne, Canadian Open, Tampa, Filderstadt, Tokyo Cup, Hilton Head, Washington, D.C., Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, Los Angeles
* 1984 (all in 74-match winning streak) - '''French Open''', '''Wimbledon''', '''U.S. Open''', Virginia Slims Championships [March], Amelia Island, Eastbourne, U.S. Indoors, Sydney, Orlando, Newport, Mahwah, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans
* 1985 - '''Australian Open''', '''Wimbledon''', Virginia Slims Championships [March], Miami, Eastbourne, Sydney, Washington, D.C., Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Brisbane
* 1986 - '''Wimbledon''', '''U.S. Open''', Virginia Slims Championships [March], Virginia Slims Championships [Nov], Eastbourne, Washington, D.C., Filderstadt, U.S. Indoors, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New England [Jan], New England [Nov]
* 1987 - '''Wimbledon''', '''U.S. Open''', Filderstadt, Chicago
* 1988 - Dallas, Oakland, Washington, D.C., New England, Chicago, Hilton Head, Amelia Island, Eastbourne, Filderstadt
* 1989 - Los Angeles, Dallas, New England, Sydney, Tokyo Pacific, Birmingham, Eastbourne, Canadian Open
* 1990 - '''Wimbledon''', Chicago, Washington, D.C., Indian Wells, Hilton Head, Eastbourne
* 1991 - Chicago, Palm Springs, Birmingham, Eastbourne, Oakland
* 1992 - Chicago, U.S. Hardcourts, Los Angeles, Filderstadt
* 1993 - Tokyo Pacific, Paris Indoors, Eastbourne, Los Angeles, Oakland
* 1994 - Paris Indoors

References

<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags-->

External links

*International Tennis Hall of Fame profile
*Official Wimbledon profile
*BBC profile
*ESPN.com article
*Fed Cup record
ta:மார்டினா நவரதிலோவா

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!