biography
| name: |
Navratilova, Martina
|
pronunciation:
[navratilohva]
| sex:
| female
|
| lived:
| (1956– )
|
| biography:
| Tennis player, born in Prague, Czech Republic. For three years she played for Czechoslovakia in the Federation Cup, but in 1975 defected to the USA and turned professional, becoming a US citizen in 1981. Her rivalry with Chris Evert was one of the great features of the game from 1975. The winner of a record nine singles titles at Wimbledon (1978–9, 1982–7, 1990), she won 167 singles titles (including 18 Grand Slam events) and 165 doubles titles with her partner Pam Shriver (including 37 Grand Slam events), becoming the most prolific winner in women's tennis. In 1994 she retired from competitive singles tennis. She has become known as a spokeswoman on several social issues, notably gay rights, animal rights, and ecology, as well as on issues to do with the status of women and young players in tennis. She won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Leander Paes in 2003, and in doing so she broke the record for the oldest ever winner of a Grand Slam crown. |
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