Martina Navrátilová (born 1956) is a Czechoslovakian tennis player who became an American in 1981. Among the most successful players in the history of women's tennis, she is one of the greatest players of all time.>
First victory at 15
Martina was born on October 18, 1956 as Šubertová. After the divorce of her parents when she was three years old, her mother Jana remarried with Miroslav Navrátil who will be her first trainer; she then becomes Martina Navrátilová.
She started tennis early and in 1972, at the age of 15, she won the national tennis championship of Czechoslovakia. The following year, she embarked on the American circuit, playing both singles and doubles, and turned professional two years later, at 18. In 74, she won her first singles title in Orlando, Florida.
Escape from the Czechoslovak communist regime
In 75, Martina Navrátilová beat Chris Evert for the first time in Washington. The same year, wanting to flee the Czechoslovak communist regime, she obtained a green card. After winning 4 tournaments, she becomes 4th in the world. In 78, she won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon by beating Evert, and won the 1st place in the world, which she kept for 2 years. That year, she won 10 tournaments beating all the best players.
In 1981, Martina obtained American citizenship and lost Czechoslovak citizenship. She continued a brilliant career and in 1982 regained the world number 1 position, which she kept for 5 years, until Steffi Graf imposed herself on the circuit.
End of career in style
In 1990, at age 34, Martina Navrátilová won her ninth and last Wimbledon. Thereafter, she reached two more Grand Slam finals in singles before retiring in 1995. In 2000, she returned to competition in doubles and sometimes play singles. In 2003, aged 46, she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed doubles with Leander Paes, and these victories made her the 3rd player to achieve a total Grand Slam by winning all four Grand Slam tournaments. singles, doubles and mixed. She has 20 Wimbledon victories and 58 Grand Slam titles (Margaret Court has 62). At 47, she won a match in the first round of Wimbledon. In 2006, Martina ended her career by winning the 2006 US Open in mixed doubles with Bob Bryan.
Lesbian – she revealed her sexual orientation in 1981 -, Martina Navrátilová campaigns for the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT). A committed woman, she founded the Martina Navratilova Youth Foundation for troubled youth and advocates for animal rights.