Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova in 1980.

Navratilova won her first professional singles title in Orlando, Florida, in 1974, at the age of 17. Upon arriving in the United States, Navratilova first lived with former Vaudeville actress, Frances Dewey Wormser, and her husband, Morton Wormser, a tennis enthusiast.[19]

Navratilova was the runner-up at two major singles tournaments in 1975; the Australian Open (won by Goolagong) and the French Open (won by Chris Evert in three sets). After losing to Evert in the semifinals of the US Open in September, 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.[20] Within a month, she received a green card and in 1981 became a US citizen.[7] Also, in 1975, Navratilova teamed with world number one Evert to win the French Open women's doubles title, Navratilova's first major title outside of mixed doubles. They teamed again in 1976 to win the Wimbledon women's doubles title over Billie Jean King and Bette Stove.

Navratilova won her first major 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 on the WTA computer, a position she held until Evert took it back in January 1979. Navratilova successfully defended her Wimbledon title in 1979, again beating Evert in the final in straight sets, and earned the World No. 1 ranking at the end of the year for the first time. Just before Wimbledon in 1979, 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, 13–11 after facing match points herself. In April 1981, Evert defeated Navratilova in the finals of the Women's Tennis Association championships, held on clay at Amelia Island, 6–0, 6–0. 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 1984). 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 fulfill her true potential.[21] In 1981, 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 1982.

Martina Navratilova and Betty Stöve during a match in 1980.

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 1983, 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-1968 professional tennis player. During 1982, 1983, and 1984, Navratilova lost a total of only six singles matches.[22] This included a run of 13 consecutive victories over her closest rival and world-ranked No. 2, Chris Evert. Navratilova's reign from 1982 to 1986 is the most dominant unbroken spell in the professional era.

Navratilova won the 1984 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 1984 Australian Open with a chance of winning all four titles in the same year. In the semifinals, however, Helena Suková ended Navratilova's 74-match winning streak (a record for a professional) 1–6, 6–3, 7–5.[23]

A left-hander, Navratilova completed a calendar grand slam in women's doubles in 1984, 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 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.) From 1985 through 1987, Navratilova reached the women's singles final at all 11 major tournaments held during those three years, winning six of them. From 1982 through 1990, she reached the Wimbledon final nine consecutive times. She reached the US Open final five consecutive times from 1983 through 1987 and appeared in the French Open final five out of six years from 1982 through 1987.[24]

In 1985, 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 5–5 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), 7–5. This was a major turnaround for Evert, who was so outmatched the year earlier in the final that Bud Collins remarked as a TV commentator that the sport needed to create a higher league for Navratilova to compete in. In outdoor matches against Evert, Navratilova led 10–5 on grass and 9–7 on hard courts, while Evert was up 11–3 on clay. On indoor courts, however, Navratilova had a decisive 21–14 lead. At the end of what is widely regarded as the greatest rivalry in women's tennis, Navratilova led Evert 43–37 in total matches, 14–8 in Grand Slams, and 10–4 in Grand Slam finals.

In 1986 at the U.S. Open, Navratilova prevailed over sixteen-year-old German Steffi Graf in a close semi-final winning 6–1, 6–7^(7–3), 7–6^(10–8),[25] before handily winning the final over Helena Suková 6–3, 6–2. Navratilova, with partner Pam Shriver, also won the women's doubles title.[26] Navratilova also defeated Graf in straight sets at the WTA Tour Championship and with an 89–3 record, earned the number-one ranking for the fifth consecutive year.

Graf dominated the first half of the 1987 season including defeating Navratilova in straight sets in the semi-finals of the Miami Open and in the final of the French Open, 6–4, 4–6, 8–6. However, Navratilova defeated Graf in straight sets in the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open (and at the US Open became only the third player in the Open Era, joining tennis legends Margaret Court and Billie Jean King, to win the women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at the same event—the rare "Triple Crown"). Navratilova reached all four Grand Slam finals in 1987, winning two of them (she lost the Australian Open to Hana Mandlíková). Graf's two losses to Navratilova were her only losses of the year and with 11 tournament wins over the year versus 4 for Navratilova she was able to obtain year-end world No. 1 ranking ahead of Navratilova at No. 2. Graf eventually broke Navratilova's records of 156 consecutive weeks and 331 total weeks as the world No. 1 singles player but fell 60 short of Navratilova's record of 167 singles titles. Including doubles, Navratilova won almost three times as many titles as Graf with a record doubles/mixed/singles combined total of 344 titles to Graf's 118.

In 1988, Graf won all four major singles titles, beating the 31-year-old Navratilova 5–7, 6–2, 6–1 in the Wimbledon final, their only match of the year, recovering from a set and a break down.[27][28] Navratilova did not reach the finals of any of the other Grand Slam events but did win nine tournaments enabling her to claim the No. 2 ranking behind Graf.

In 1989, Graf and Navratilova met in the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open, with Graf winning both encounters 6–1 in the third set. Graf also defeated Navratilova in the finals of the WTA Tour Championships their third and final match of the year. Navratilova, who skipped the French Open that year, did win eight titles and was able to capture the No. 2 ranking behind Graf for the third straight year. Despite the 13 year age difference between the two players, and Graf's comparative lack of investment in doubles and mixed doubles, Navratilova won 9 of the 18 career singles matches with Graf and 5 of the 9 major singles matches with her. At age 34, Navratilova defeated Graf the last time they played in a major in the semifinals of the 1991 US Open 7–6^(7–2), 6–7^(6–8), 6–4, to end their Grand Slam rivalry 5–4 up, although it is noteworthy that all 4 of Graf's Grand Slam victories over Navratilova came in the finals of a Slam. This is reflected in the Grand Slams Finals chart below.

Navratilova and Suková playing doubles

Navratilova's final Grand Slam singles triumph was in 1990. In the final at Wimbledon, the 33-year-old Navratilova swept Zina Garrison 6–4, 6–1 to claim an all-time record ninth Wimbledon singles crown. She won four other tournaments that year, although she did not participate in the Australian or French Opens, and finished the year ranked No. 3 in the world, narrowly edged out by sixteen-year-old Monica Seles for the No. 2 spot. In September 1992, the 35-year-old Navratilova played 40-year-old Jimmy Connors in the third Battle of the Sexes tennis match at Caesars Palace in Paradise, Nevada. Connors was allowed only one serve per point and Navratilova was allowed to hit into half the doubles court. Connors won 7–5, 6–2.[29] She played for the Boston Lobsters in the World TeamTennis pro league through the 2009 season.[30]

Though Wimbledon 1990 was her last major singles title, Navratilova reached two additional major singles finals during the remainder of career: in 1991, she lost in the US Open final to the new world No. 1, Monica Seles; and, in 1994, at age 37, Navratilova reached the Wimbledon final, where she lost in three sets to Conchita Martínez. In November that year, after losing to Gabriela Sabatini in the first round of the WTA Tour Championships, she retired from full-time competition on the singles tour.[31] She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.

In 2000, Navratilova returned to the tour to mostly play doubles events, while rarely also playing singles. In her first singles performance in eight years, at Eastbourne in 2002, she beat world No. 22, Tatiana Panova, before losing in the next round to Daniela Hantuchová in three sets. In 2003, she won the mixed doubles titles at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, partnering Leander Paes. This made her the oldest ever major champion (aged 46 years, 8 months). The Australian Open victory made her the third player in history to complete a "boxed set" of major titles by winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at all four majors. The Wimbledon win allowed her to equal Billie Jean King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles (in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles combined) and extended her overall number of major titles to 58 (second only to Margaret Court, who won 64).[32] Navratilova made a return to singles at the 2004 French Open after an absence of 10 years, but she was defeated by Gisela Dulko in the first round.[33] Shortly afterwards, and despite being criticized for receiving a wildcard, Navratilova won a singles match over Catalina Castaño 6–0 6–1 at the first round of Wimbledon in 2004, aged 47 years and eight months, to make her the oldest player to win a professional singles match in the open era.[34] Navratilova then lost her second round match with the same player who had beaten her at the French Open the previous month, Gisela Dulko, in three sets.[35]

On Thursday, July 6, 2006, Navratilova played her last matches at Wimbledon, with partner Liezel Huber losing a quarterfinal match in women's doubles to fourth seeds and eventual champions Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, and later in the same day with partner Mark Knowles losing in the third round of mixed doubles to eventual champions Andy Ram and Vera Zvonareva.[36][37] She had said that her last Wimbledon wasn't about breaking her record shared with Billie Jean King of 20 championships. In an interview, Navratilova was quoted as saying, "People keep saying that, but it so wasn't. I just wanted to win one more title here, period."[38]

Navratilova capped her career by winning the mixed doubles title, her 41st major doubles title (31 in women's doubles and 10 in mixed doubles) and 177th overall, at the 2006 US Open with American doubles specialist Bob Bryan. At the time, she was only about a month shy of her 50th birthday and broke her own record as the oldest ever major champion (aged 49 years, 10 months). Navratilova won 167 top-level singles titles (more than any other player in the open era) and 177 doubles titles. Her last title in women's doubles came on August 21, 2006, at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where she partnered Nadia Petrova. Navratilova won 18 major singles titles: nine at Wimbledon, four at the US Open, three at the Australian Open, and two at the French Open. Her overall record in 67 major singles events was 306–49 (120–14 at Wimbledon, 89–17 at the US Open, 51–11 at the French Open, and 46–7 at the Australian Open). Some observers argue that the very few singles match she played in her forties should be counted separately in her career statistics. She is the only player to have won at least one tour event for 21 consecutive years and won the singles and doubles at the same event a record 84 times. She was ranked in the world's top 3 in singles for 15 years between 1977 and 1993. Her career singles match win total of 1,442 is the most during the open era.[39]

In 1981, shortly after becoming a United States citizen, Navratilova gave an interview to New York Daily News sports reporter Steve Goldstein, coming out as bisexual and revealing that she had a sexual relationship with Rita Mae Brown,[54] but asked him not to publish the article until she was ready to come out publicly.[55] However, the New York Daily News published the article on July 30, 1981.[42][56] Navratilova and Nancy Lieberman, her friend and roommate at the time,[57] gave an interview to Dallas Morning News columnist Skip Bayless,[58][59] where Navratilova reiterated that she was bisexual and Lieberman identified herself as straight.[60] Navratilova has since re-identified herself as a lesbian.[61]

From 1984 to 1991, Navratilova had a long-term relationship with Judy Nelson, whom she met at a tournament in Fort Worth in 1982 (at the time Nelson was married with two children).[62] Their split in 1991 resulted in a televised palimony lawsuit which was settled out of court.[63][64]

On September 6, 2014, Navratilova proposed to her long-time girlfriend Julia Lemigova, a former Miss USSR, at the US Open.[65] They married in New York on December 15, 2014.[66][67]

According to the New York Times' Jane E. Brody, in September 1982, an acute attack of toxoplasmosis "contributed to Martina Navratilova's defeat during the United States Open tennis tournament", in which No. 1 seed Navratilova unexpectedly lost to No. 7 seed Pam Shriver in the quarterfinal round. (Shriver—Navratilova's doubles partner in the same tournament—subsequently lost to No. 5 seed Hana Mandlíková in the semifinal. Mandlíková was then defeated in the final by Navratilova's longtime rival, No. 2 seed Chris Evert.) By late October, Navratilova had "apparently recovered".[68]

Navratilova began to wear glasses in 1985 and recalled that her vision had begun to deteriorate in 1984.[69][70] She continued to wear glasses for tennis for many years.[71][72][73] Few tennis players wear sunglasses regularly for tennis and Navratilova is one of them.[74] Although she achieved so much prior to using glasses, her glasses have become iconic.[75][76] Some sports writers have said that they made her, as with other top athletes who had imperfect health, seem more vulnerable and human.[77][78]

On April 7, 2010, Navratilova announced that she was being treated for breast cancer.[79][80] A routine mammogram in January 2010 revealed that she had a ductal carcinoma in situ in her left breast, which she was informed of on February 24, and in March she had the tumour surgically removed;[81] she received radiation therapy in May.[79]

In December 2010, Navratilova was hospitalized after developing high altitude pulmonary edema while attempting a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.[82]

Navratilova is involved with various charities that benefit animal rights, underprivileged children, and gay rights.[83]

Navratilova has described herself as a vegetarian. In an April 2006 interview, however, she said she had recently begun eating fish again because she found it hard to get enough protein while on the road.[84][85]

Navratilova is a Democrat, and has donated more than $25,000 to Democratic campaigns.[86]

Navratilova participated in a lawsuit against Amendment 2, a successful 1992 ballot proposition in Colorado designed to prevent sexual orientation from being a protected class.[87]

In 1993, Navratilova spoke before the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.[88] Navratilova serves as the Health and Fitness Ambassador for AARP[89] in an alliance created to help AARP's millions of members lead active, healthy lives.

In 2000, she was the recipient of National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian activist/lobbying group.[90]

Navratilova in September 2011

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

Whenever people go into politics and they try to say that Communism was a good thing, I say, 'Go ahead and live in a Communist country then, if you think it's so great.'[84]

Navratilova was a guest on CNN's Connie Chung Tonight show on July 17, 2002. During the show, Chung quoted a German newspaper which quoted Navratilova as saying:

The most absurd part of my escape from the unjust system is that I have exchanged one system that suppresses free opinion for another. The Republicans in the U.S. manipulate public opinion and sweep controversial issues under the table. It's depressing. Decisions in America are based solely on the question of how much money will come out of it and not on the questions of how much health, morals or environment suffer as a result.[91]

Navratilova said that the remarks referred to what she perceived as a trend of centralization of government power and a loss of personal freedom. In the discussion that followed, Chung stated:

Can I be honest with you? I can tell you that when I read this, I have to tell you that I thought it was un-American, unpatriotic. I wanted to say, go back to Czechoslovakia. You know, if you don't like it here, this a country that gave you so much, gave you the freedom to do what you want.[91]

Navratilova responded,

And I'm giving it back. This is why I speak out. When I see something that I don't like, I'm going to speak out because you can do that here. And again, I feel there are too many things happening that are taking our rights away.[91]

Navratilova was quoted in 2007 as being ashamed of the US under President George W. Bush because unlike the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Bush was democratically elected.[92][93]

Navratilova is critical of allowing trans women to compete in women's sports. She rejects accusations of transphobia, and says she deplores "a growing tendency among transgender activists to denounce anyone who argues against them and to label them all as 'transphobes.'"[94] Following an article on the subject that Navratilova wrote for The Times in February 2019, Athlete Ally, an LGBTQ athlete advocacy group, removed Navratilova from their advisory board, stating her comments "are transphobic [and] based on a false understanding of science and data".[95][96][97]

In March 2019, Navratilova apologized for using the term "cheating" when discussing whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women's sport. She also called for "a debate, a conversation that includes everyone and is based, as I have said, not on feeling or emotion but science."[98]

In an April 2019 article for The Washington Post, she opined that the Equality Act, in its current form, "would make it unlawful to differentiate among girls and women in sports on the basis of sex for any purpose".[99]

In June 2019, the BBC broadcast "The Trans Women Athlete Dispute with Martina Navratilova", where she interviewed people including trans women athletes and sports researchers, presenting evidence on both sides of the debate of whether trans women have any advantage in elite sports. Her closing remarks were

"The way I started this journey, I just wanted to see if there are any big surprises, any misconceptions that I had.

And what I think I have come to realise, the biggest thing for me, is just that the level of difficulty that trans people go through cannot be underestimated. The fight for equality and recognition is just huge. That being said, still, for me, the most important thing in sports... and you have to remember, trans rights and elite sports are two different things, although of course they are connected. What's the right way to set rules so that everybody feels like they have a fighting chance? It feels to me that it is impossible to come to any real conclusions or write any meaningful rules until more research is done.

"But for now, I think we need to include as many transgender athletes as possible within elite sports, while keeping it as level a playing field as possible. Look, society has changed so much. Things evolve, things change and maybe I need to evolve, I need to change. The rules certainly need to evolve. If you don't adapt, you've got problems. And so we'll just keep adapting and try to find a happy way forward."[100]

In August 2020, Navratilova along with 300+ women signed a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association in support of an Idaho law that bans trans women student athletes from competing in female sports.[101]

In 2021, Navratilova became a leader of the Women's Sports Policy Working Group, formed in response to President Joe Biden's Executive Order 13988 mandate that offered blanket inclusion for all trans women athletes. The goal of the group is protecting girls and women in competitive sports categories, while, wherever possible, crafting accommodations for trans athletes into sport.[102][103]

By winning the 1983 US Open title, Navratilova completed the career Grand Slam, becoming only the seventh woman in history to achieve it.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1975	Australian Open	Grass	Evonne Goolagong	3–6, 2–6
Loss	1975	French Open	Clay	Chris Evert	6–2, 2–6, 1–6
Win	1978	Wimbledon	Grass	Chris Evert	2–6, 6–4, 7–5
Win	1979	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Chris Evert	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1981	US Open	Hard	Tracy Austin	6–1, 6–7(4–7), 6–7(1–7)
Win	1981	Australian Open	Grass	Chris Evert	6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–5
Win	1982	French Open	Clay	Andrea Jaeger	7–6(8–6), 6–1
Win	1982	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Chris Evert	6–1, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	1982	Australian Open	Grass	Chris Evert	3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win	1983	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Andrea Jaeger	6–0, 6–3
Win	1983	US Open	Hard	Chris Evert	6–1, 6–3
Win	1983	Australian Open (2)	Grass	Kathy Jordan	6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Win	1984	French Open (2)	Clay	Chris Evert	6–3, 6–1
Win	1984	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Chris Evert	7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win	1984	US Open (2)	Hard	Chris Evert	4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	1985	French Open	Clay	Chris Evert	3–6, 7–6(7–4), 5–7
Win	1985	Wimbledon (6)	Grass	Chris Evert	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	1985	US Open	Hard	Hana Mandlíková	6–7(3–7), 6–1, 6–7(2–7)
Win	1985	Australian Open (3)	Grass	Chris Evert	6–2, 4–6, 6–2
Loss	1986	French Open	Clay	Chris Evert	6–2, 3–6, 3–6
Win	1986	Wimbledon (7)	Grass	Hana Mandlíková	7–6(7–1), 6–3
Win	1986	US Open (3)	Hard	Helena Suková	6–3, 6–2
Loss	1987	Australian Open	Grass	Hana Mandlíková	5–7, 6–7(1–7)
Loss	1987	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	4–6, 6–4, 6–8
Win	1987	Wimbledon (8)	Grass	Steffi Graf	7–5, 6–3
Win	1987	US Open (4)	Hard	Steffi Graf	7–6(7–4), 6–1
Loss	1988	Wimbledon	Grass	Steffi Graf	7–5, 2–6, 1–6
Loss	1989	Wimbledon	Grass	Steffi Graf	2–6, 7–6(7–1), 1–6
Loss	1989	US Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–3, 5–7, 1–6
Win	1990	Wimbledon(9)	Grass	Zina Garrison	6–4, 6–1
Loss	1991	US Open	Hard	Monica Seles	6–7(1–7), 1–6
Loss	1994	Wimbledon	Grass	Conchita Martínez	4–6, 6–3, 3–6

• These are Open Era tennis records.
• Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.

with Mary Carillo as photographer.

with printings in German, Russian, French and Spanish.