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Martina Navrátilová Audio|Cs-Martina
Navratilova.ogg|listen (b. October 18 1956, in
Řevnice, near Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a
former World No. 1 woman tennis player. Originally
from Czechoslovakia, she defected to the United
States in 1975 and became a US citizen in 1981.
During her career she won 18 Grand Slam
(tennis)|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 Championships|Wimbledon a record 9
times. 

She 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
"ová"). 

===Tennis career===

In 1972 at the age of 15, Navrátilová 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 volley|serve-and-volleyer
with superb volley|volleying skills, Navrátilová
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), but
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. 

Navrátilová finished runner-up at two of the
Grand Slams 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
semi-finals of that year's U.S. Open (tennis)|US
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. Within a month, she received
a Green Card.

Navrátilová 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 Navrátilová won her third Grand Slam
singles title by defeating Evert in the final of
the Australian Open, and also reached the final of
the US Open where she lost a third-set tie-breaker
to Tracy Austin. She won both Wimbledon and the
French Open in 1982.

The mid-1980s were the most dominant period of
Navrátilová’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). She then won
the 1984 French Open to hold all four Grand Slam
singles titles simultaneously. This was extended
to a record-equalling six consecutive Grand Slams
following wins at Wimbledon at the US Open, and
she entered the 1984 Australian Open with a chance
of winning all four titles in the same year.
However in the semi-finals, Helena Sukova ended a
Navratilova's 74-match winning streak in
1984|74-match winning streak (a record for a
professional) by beating Navrátilová 1-6, 6-3,
7-5.

Navrátilová did succeed in winnning all four of
the 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. (Navrátilová 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,
Navrátilová 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 Navrátilová’s dominance, in
the form of the young German player Steffi Graf,
emerged on the scene in 1987 when she beat
Navrátilová in the final of the French Open.
Navrátilová beat Graf in the 1987 Wimbledon and
US Open finals (and at the US Open became only the
third player in the Tennis Open Era|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 nevertheless
allowed her to depose Navrátilová as the World
No. 1 before the end of the year. (Graf eventually
went on to break Navrátilová’s records of 156
consecutive weeks and 331 total weeks as the World
No. 1 singles player.)  In 1988, Graf truly
eclipsed Navratilova by winning all four Grand
Slam titles, beating Navrátilová 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
in the Wimbledon final along the way. In 1989,
Graf and Navrátilová met in the finals of the
both Wimbledon and the US Open, with Graf winning
both encounters in three sets. 

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

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

Since 2000, Navrátilová 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 double
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, Navrátilová won
167 top-level singles titles (more than any other
player in the Open Era) and 175 doubles titles. 
Her most recent title came on August 21, 2005, at
the Canada_Masters|Rogers Cup in Toronto, where
she won the women's doubles event partnering
Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

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

===Personal life===

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

Navrátilová’s openness about her sexuality
almost certainly cost her millions in endorsement
opportunities because of corporate homophobia.

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

When not playing tennis, Navrátilová is involved
with various charities that benefit animal rights,
underprivileged children and gay rights.  She
released an autobiography, simply entitled 
Martina, in 1985, and also co-wrote three mystery
novels in the 1990s.

Navrátilová also made a humorous guest
appearance on Will & Grace, in an episode called
Lows In The Mid-Eighties in which a flashback
revealed she had been heterosexual until a 1985
relationship with Karen Walker (character)|Karen
turned her.

== Grand Slam singles finals==

===Wins (18)===  

 Year     Championship            Opponent in
Final          Score in Final
 1978     Wimbledon               Chris Evert     
          2-6, 6-4, 7-5 
 1979     Wimbledon               Chris Evert     
          6-4, 6-4       
 1981     Australian Open         Chris Evert     
          6-7, 6-4, 7-5 
 1982     French Open             Andrea Jaeger   
          7-6, 6-1 
 1982     Wimbledon               Chris Evert     
          6-1, 3-6, 6-2 
 1983     Wimbledon               Andrea Jaeger   
          6-0, 6-3 
 1983     US Open                 Chris Evert     
          6-1, 6-3
 1983     Australian Open         Kathy Jordan    
          6-2, 7-6
 1984     French Open             Chris Evert     
          6-3, 6-1
 1984     Wimbledon               Chris Evert     
          7-6, 6-2 
 1984     US Open                 Chris Evert     
          4-6, 6-4, 6-4 
 1985     Wimbledon               Chris Evert     
          4-6, 6-3, 6-2
 1985     Australian Open         Chris Evert     
          6-2, 4-6, 6-2
 1986     Wimbledon               Hana Mandlikova 
          7-6, 6-3 
 1986     US Open                 Helena Sukova   
          6-3, 6-2 
 1987     Wimbledon               Steffi Graf     
          7-5, 6-3 
 1987     US Open                 Steffi Graf     
          7-6, 6-1 
 1990     Wimbledon               Zina Garrison   
          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     US Open                 Tracy Austin    
          1-6, 7-6, 7-6 
 1982     Australian Open         Chris Evert     
          6-3, 2-6, 6-3
 1985     French Open             Chris Evert     
          6-3, 6-7, 7-5
 1985     US Open                 Hana Mandlikova 
          7-6, 1-6, 7-6 
 1986     French Open             Chris Evert     
          2-6, 6-3, 6-3
 1987     Australian Open         Hana Mandlikova 
          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     US Open                 Steffi Graf     
          3-6, 7-5, 6-1
 1991     US Open                 Monica Seles    
          7-6, 6-1
 1994     Wimbledon               Conchita
Martinez          6-4, 3-6, 6-3

== Grand Slam doubles titles==

===Women's doubles titles (31)===

 Year     Championship            Partner
 1975     French Open             Chris Evert
 1976     Wimbledon               Chris Evert
 1977     US Open                 Betty Stove
 1978     US Open                 Billie Jean King
 1979     Wimbledon               Billie Jean King
 1980     Australian Open         Betsy Nagelsen
 1980     US Open                 Billie Jean King
 1981     Wimbledon               Pam Shriver
 1982     Australian Open         Anne Smith
 1982     French Open             Pam Shriver
 1982     Wimbledon               Pam Shriver
 1983     Australian Open         Pam Shriver
 1983     Wimbledon               Pam Shriver
 1983     US Open                 Pam Shriver
 1984     Australian Open         Pam Shriver
 1984     French Open             Pam Shriver
 1984     Wimbledon               Pam Shriver
 1984     US Open                 Pam Shriver
 1985     Australian Open         Pam Shriver
 1985     French Open             Pam Shriver
 1986     French Open             Andrea Temesvari
 1986     Wimbledon               Pam Shriver
 1986     US Open                 Pam Shriver
 1987     Australian Open         Pam Shriver
 1987     French Open             Pam Shriver
 1987     US Open                 Pam Shriver
 1988     Australian Open         Pam Shriver
 1988     French Open             Pam Shriver
 1989     Australian Open         Pam Shriver
 1989     US Open                 Hana Mandlikova
 1990     US 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     US Open                 Heinz Gunthardt
 1987     US Open                 Emilio Sanchez
 1993     Wimbledon               Mark Woodforde
 1995     Wimbledon               Jonathan Stark
 2003     Australian Open         Leander Paes
 2003     Wimbledon               Leander Paes


==External links==

*wta|id=140007|name=Martina Navratilova
*http://www.tennisfame.org/enshrinees/navratilova.
html International Tennis Hall of Fame profile
*http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/wimbledon_
history/3742061.stm BBC profile
*http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/0001637
8.html ESPN.com article

Tennis World Number Ones (women)