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Prologue!
Left handed, Martina Navratilova, without exaggeration is the Queen of Tennis;
Just like a fine wine, Navratilova only got better with age, dominating the sport well into her 40s. Her powerful serve was like a cannonball, leaving opponents reeling. Her volleys were as precise as a surgeon’s scalpel, slicing through opponents’ defenses with ease.
1.
Martina Navratilova is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Born on October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Martina defected to the United States in 1975 and became a naturalized citizen in 1981.
Her impressive career spanned over three decades, during which she dominated the sport, breaking numerous records and winning countless accolades.
Born as Martina Subertova, she experienced her parents’ divorce when she was three years old. Her mother was a gymnast, a tennis player and also a ski instructor and may well have passed on the champion’s DNA to her daughter.
Her maternal grandmother was also a tennis player before W.W.II, ranking as high as №2 among Czech women during her amateur career.
She had her first contact with a tennis ball at the tender age of two, while at the age of seven she began to play regularly this sport that would give her famous name and titles, making her an undisputed champion in the sport of tennis.
From 1972, when she won the national champion title in Czechoslovakia for the first time at the age of 15, until 2006 when she retired from the sport, they constitute a span of time of an excellent career.
She participated in 1973 on the United States Lawn Tennis Association professional tour but did not turn professional until 1975. But a year earlier, in 1974, the 17-year-old Navratilova won her first professional title at the Orlando tournament.
In 1975 Navratilova was the runner-up at two major singles tournaments: 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 of the same year, 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 and in 1981 became a US citizen.
Also in 1975, Navratilova teamed with world number one Evert to win the French Open women’s doubles title, Navratilova’s first major title. The two teamed up again in 1976 to win the women’s doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating fellow pair Billie Jean King and Bette Stove.
Navratilova and Evert, Chris and Martina, were teammates, but they would undoubtedly become rivals. Their duels on the tennis court are countless. Thus, in 1978, Martina would win her first major title at the prestigious Wimbledon tournament, defeating Chris Evert in three beautiful sets in an exciting final, becoming number 1 in the world in the WTA rankings.
Also in 1979, she would defend her Wimbledon title, defeating Evert again in the final. But just before Wimbledon that year, Evert and Navratilova played what was 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.
Later, her matches will be recorded to be kept long in the history of this sport, challenges that have created the history of the Tennis game specially during the time period of the mid-1970s and the decade of the 1980s.
In 1980, Navratilova defeated six-time former Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King in an epic two-day match in the Wimbledon quarterfinals,
7–6 (8–6), 1–6, 10–8.
In 1981, Navratilova won her third major 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 Wimbledon and the French Open in 1982.
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 heaviest and only loss in straight sets… however, in 1984, at the same tournament, Martina got her revenge with a crushing 6–2, 6–0 loss to now-rival Chris Evert!
In the early 1980s she would dominate the tournament scene, especially the Grand Slams. During 1982, 1983 and 1984, Navratilova lost only six matches in total.
This included a 13-match winning streak against her closest rival and world number 2, Chris Evert. Navratilova’s reign from 1982 to 1986 is the most dominant spell in the professional tennis era.
The rivalry with Evert continued into the second half of the 1980s. In 1985, Navratilova performed in what many consider to be perhaps the greatest women’s match of all time, the French Open final against Chris Evert.
Navratilova came back from 3–6, 2–4 down to 5–5 all in the third set, before Evert hit the match-winning point to defeat Navratilova 6–3, 6–7 (4–7), 7–5. Television sports commentator Bud Collins said that tennis needed to create a higher league for Navratilova to compete in.
The balance of the two iconic players was as follows: In their outdoor matches against Evert, Navratilova led 10–5 on grass and 9–7 on hard courts, while Evert was better on clay 11–3. Indoors, Navratilova held a decisive 21–14 lead. At the end of what is widely considered 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 the mid-1980s, another rivalry arose, that between Navratilova and Steffi Graf.
In 1986 at the US Open, in the most anticipated match of the tournament, Navratilova prevailed over 17-year-old German Steffi Graf in the semifinals 6–1, 6–7(7–3), 7–6(10–8), saving three match points in an epic spread over two days.
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.
Navratilova reached all four Grand Slam finals in 1987, winning two of them. 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 №1 ranking ahead of Navratilova at №2.
Graf eventually broke Navratilova’s records of 156 consecutive weeks and 331 total weeks as the world №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.
Navratilova did not reach the finals of any of the other Grand Slam events but did win nine tournaments enabling her to claim the №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 №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.
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.
Though Wimbledon 1990 was her last major singles title,
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.
Career Highlights:
- Record-breaking Grand Slam titles:
Martina won an unprecedented 167 singles titles, including 18 Grand Slam singles titles (a record for the Open Era).
- Unbeatable streaks:
She held the number one spot in the world rankings for a record 331 weeks and won 74 consecutive matches in 1981–1982.
- Dominant doubles player:
Martina won 331 doubles titles, including 33 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles.
- Olympic medals:
She won three Olympic medals, including a gold medal in women’s singles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
- Awards and recognition:
Martina was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000 and received the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) highest honor, the Philippe Chatrier Award, in 2003.
LGBTQ+ icon:
Martina has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and has used her platform to promote acceptance and inclusivity.
Martina Navratilova’s remarkable career, both on and off the court, has left an indelible mark on the world of tennis and beyond.
Martina’s athleticism and agility allowed her to cover the court with ease, making impossible shots seem routine. Her exceptional hand-eye coordination and reaction time enabled her to return even the fastest serves with precision and power.
Her strategic brilliance and mental toughness made her a formidable opponent, able to outmaneuver and outlast even the toughest foes.
Her powerful groundstrokes and precise volleys made her a force to be reckoned with, capable of overwhelming opponents with sheer firepower.
By Pjerin Bj.
New York 12, 2025
https://www.sportsvisionplus.com/the-legend-martina-navratilova-the-dominant-force-in-womens-tennis/
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