Martina Navratilova has been described by some as the greatest woman singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who’s ever lived. She is credited with taking women’s tennis to a different level as her fitness, stamina and strength enabled her to overpower her opponents and win a staggering number of titles.
She was born on October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). Her parents divorced when she was 3. Her mother Jana, an accomplished gymnast, tennis player and ski instructor married Miroslav Navratil, who became Martina’s first tennis coach. At the age of 15, Martina won the Czechoslovakia national tennis championship and at the age of 17, she won her first professional singles title in Orlando, Florida. A year later, she defected to the United States from communist Czechoslovakia to focus on her game.
She is considered among the greatest female tennis players of all time, having won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women’s doubles titles and 10 major mixed doubles titles, making a combined total of 59 major titles.
This achievement marks the Open Era record for the most Grand Slam titles won by a single player. She reached the Wimbledon singles final 12 times, including nine consecutive years from 1982 through 1990 and won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon a record nine times!
In 2008, Navratilova announced that she would open an academy for young tennis players in her home country, the Czech Republic. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.
Picture Credit : Google
