Martina Navratilová; born October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former World No. 1 women's tennis player. Billie Jean King said about Navratilová in 2006, "She's the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived."[1] Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the second best female player of the 20th century, directly behind Steffi Graf.[2] Tennis magazine has selected her as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005.[3] Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilová, "Arguably, the greatest player of all time."[4] Navratilová won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She reached the Wimbledon singles final 12 times, including 9 consecutive years from 1982 through 1990, and won the women's singles title at Wimbledon a record 9 times. She and King each won 20 Wimbledon titles, an all-time record. Navratilova is one of just three women to have accomplished a career Grand Slam in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles (called the Grand Slam "boxed set"). She holds the open era record for most singles titles (167) and doubles titles (177). She recorded the longest winning streak in tennis history (74 consecutive matches) and three of the six longest winning streaks in women's tennis history. Navratilová, Margaret Court, and Maureen Connolly Brinker share the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam singles titles (six). Navratilová reached 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, second all-time to Steffi Graf's 13. In women's doubles, Navratilová and Pam Shriver won 109 consecutive matches and won all four Grand Slam titles in 1984. They also tied Louise Brough Clapp's and Margaret Osborne duPont's record of 20 Grand Slam women's doubles titles as a team. Originally from Czechoslovakia, she lost her citizenship when she fled from communism to the United States in 1975 at the age of 18 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981. On January 9, 2008, she had her Czech citizenship restored.[5] She stated she has not renounced her American citizenship nor does she plan to do so and that the restoration of her Czech citizenship was not politically motivated.[6] [7] Martina is a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
