Martina Navratilova

(born October 18, 1956) tennis player and coach

Martina Navratilova holds the records for most singles titles (167) and for most doubles titles (177). Billie Jean King, former World No. 1 player, said in 2006 that Navratilova is “the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who’s ever lived.” In 2005, Tennis magazine selected her as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005. Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova “arguably, the greatest tennis player of all time.”

Navratilova was World No. 1 for a total of 332 weeks in singles, and a record 237 weeks in doubles, making her the only player in history to have held the top spot in both singles and doubles for over 200 weeks. She was year-end singles No. 1 seven times, including a record five consecutive years, as well as year-end doubles No. 1 five times, including three consecutive years during which she held the ranking for the entire year. She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women’s doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 major mixed doubles titles. She reached the Wimbledon singles final 12 times, including nine consecutive years from 1982 through 1990, and won the women’s singles title at Wimbledon a record nine times (surpassing Helen Wills Moody’s eight Wimbledon titles),[5] including a run of six consecutive titles – the best performance by any professional player at a major event. She and King each won 20 Wimbledon titles, an all-time record. Navratilova is one of just three women ever to have accomplished a career Grand Slam in singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles (called the Grand Slam “boxed set”), a distinction she shares with Margaret Court and Doris Hart.

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