Topic Page: Navratilova, Martina, 1956-
Czech tennis player who became a naturalized US citizen in 1981. The most outstanding woman player of the 1980s, she won 59 Grand Slam victories, including 18 singles titles. She won the Wimbledon singles title a record nine times, including six in succession 1982–87.
Career highlights
Wimbledon singles: 1978–79, 1982–87, 1990; doubles: 1976, 1979, 1981–84, 1986; mixed: 1985, 1993, 1995, 2003
US Open singles: 1983–84, 1986–87; doubles: 1977–78, 1980, 1983–87, 1989–90; mixed: 1985, 1987
French Open singles: 1982, 1984; doubles: 1975, 1982, 1984–88; mixed: 1974, 1985
Australian Open singles: 1981, 1983, 1985; doubles: 1980, 1982–85, 1987–89; mixed: 2003
ITF world champion 1979, 1982–86
Fed Cup (with former Czechoslovakia) 1975; (with USA) 1982, 1986, 1989
Tournament wins 341
Navratilova won her first Wimbledon title in 1976 (doubles with Chris Evert). Her total of 58 Grand Slam titles was second only to Margaret Court, who won 62. Her first Grand Slam win was mixed doubles at the 1974 French Championship (with Ivan Molina, Colombia). By winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Leander Paes in 2003, Navratilova completed a sweep of all 12 Grand Slam titles, and, at the age of 46, also became the oldest player ever to win a major tournament. She also won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 2003, her last Grand Slam triumph, which brought her level with Billie Jean King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles.
She became a tennis coach in 1997, and made her debut as captain of the defending champion US Fed Cup team.
After reaching the semi-finals of the US Open in 1975, Navratilova stayed in the USA and announced her intention to defect; a month later she was issued a green card and became a US citizen in 1981.
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Navratilova, Martina
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