Legend Bio: Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova’s 167 singles titles and 177 doubles titles stand as the all-time records for any player, male or female, a testament to a four-decade career of unprecedented scope and longevity. She first reached the WTA No.1 ranking on July 10, 1978, upon defeating Chris Evert for her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, and would spend 332 weeks at the summit, a reign bettered only by Steffi Graf.

Navratilova's 18 Grand Slam singles titles were defined by her supremacy on grass, a surface she conquered with unmatched serve-and-volley prowess. She won Wimbledon a record nine times, in 1978-79, 1982-87, and 1990. She captured the US Open four times (1983-84, 1986-87), the Australian Open three times (1981, 1983, 1985) and Roland Garros twice (1982, 1984). She collected six consecutive Grand Slam titles from Wimbledon in 1983 through the US Open in 1984, equalling the record set by Maureen Connolly and Margaret Court.

Naturally athletic, Navratilova really hit her stride in the early 1980s, when she revolutionized the game with her revolutionary focus on off-court training, sports psychology and nutrition. Around this time, her rivalry with Evert also reached its zenith. With their contrasting playing styles and personalities, the battles between the two superstars of women's tennis captured the imagination of fans around the world and raised the profile of women's sports. All up, they faced each other 80 times, Navratilova finishing with the edge, 43-37. 

Victory at the 1983 US Open, over Evert, signalled Navratilova's career Grand Slam in singles. Her 1983 season was, indeed, statistically the most dominant in the Open Era, as she compiled an 86-1 record for a .989 winning percentage. 

Across her career, Navratilova's mastery extended across surfaces, winning 31 singles titles on grass, 39 on hard courts, and 16 on clay. No woman has won more tennis matches: 1,442 wins against 219 losses. Alongside her affinity for grass, she was notably formidable indoors, including at the season-ending championships. She won the WTA Finals (then known as the Virginia Slims Championships) eight times, in 1978-79, 1981, 1983-86, and 1994, and played the event a record 21 times. 

Her doubles achievements were even more prolific. Navratilova won 31 women’s doubles majors, securing the career Grand Slam five times over with seven wins at Roland Garros, eight at the Australian Open, five at Wimbledon, and nine at the US Open.

With Pam Shriver alone she won 79 titles, and together they built a record 109-match winning streak. Navratilova also pocketed 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, completing a rare triple career Grand Slam by winning singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at all four majors. She was the first player to simultaneously hold the World No.1 ranking in both singles and doubles when the WTA introduced computerized rankings for doubles in 1984.

After retiring from singles – more or less – at the end of 1994, Navratilova continued to play doubles and mixed doubles, making a celebrated, age-barrier-busting return to the tour in 2000. At Wimbledon in 2004, she even became the oldest woman to win a singles match in the Open Era at 47 years, eight months. She played her final match at the 2006 US Open, where she won the mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan just a month shy of her 50th birthday, becoming the oldest Grand Slam champion in history. She then stepped away from the game with 59 Grand Slam titles across the three disciplines – the Open Era record for women or men, and second only to Court's tally of 64, the all-time record.

Born in Prague, Navratilova defected from Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1975 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981, later having her Czech citizenship restored in 2008. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000. Off the court, she married longtime partner Julia Lemigova in 2014, and the couple have four children. She remains a respected broadcaster and a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights, animal welfare, environmental issues and political causes.