Navratilova Turns 50

One of the all-time legends of women's professional tennis, Martina Navratilova, marked her 50th birthday on Wednesday, October 18, 2006, having amazingly only just completely closed the curtain on her career just a month ago with her last Grand Slam title. After capturing the US Open mixed doubles championship with compatriot Bob Bryan on September 9, 2006, Martina Navratilova announced at her post-match press conference that it was definitely the final match of her illustrious, 32-year professional career.

Navratilova's ultimate season on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, playing exclusively in doubles, was a successful one punctuated in Grand Slam style. She claimed her 176th and 177th career doubles titles at the Internationaux de Strasbourg (with South Africa's Liezel Huber) and Rogers Cup in Montréal (with Russia's Nadia Petrova).

"The body of work is what I'm proud of, and the passion that I brought to this sport, trying to figure out how to be the best player that I could possibly be with the limitations that I have," said Navratilova at her final press conference, on the second Sunday of the US Open fortnight. "Personally, I'm proud of being true to myself, speaking my truth and living it."

In addition to compiling arguably the most remarkable resume in tennis history, Navratilova has also been involved in a distinctive array of off-court endeavors. Among those that are tennis-related, she has served as president of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Players Association (1979-80, 1983-84, 1994-95) and led the United States Fed Cup team (1997). Having fled Czechoslovakia to become an American citizen in 1981, she has also supported non-profit groups and charitable causes, including the Women's Sports Foundation, Planned Parenthood and PETA.

Highlights and milestones that stand out in the naturalized American's legendary career include:

- Winning 167 singles titles, the most of any male or female professional player, 18 of those being Grand Slam singles titles, fourth among all female players (behind Court, Graf and Wills Moody, and tied with Evert); nine at Wimbledon
- Winning 177 doubles titles, including two this year (Strasbourg w/Huber, Montréal w/Petrova) and 79 with Pam Shriver (21 of which were Grand Slams)
- Sweeping singles and doubles at the same event 84 times, leading all players
- Winning 10 major mixed doubles titles, including one this year (US Open)
- Holding the No.1 singles ranking for a total of 331 non-consecutive weeks (second to Graf's 377), finishing seven years at No.1 (second to Graf's eight)
- Finishing every year of full-time singles ranked inside Top 10 for 20 consecutive years (from turning pro in 1975 to retiring from full-time singles in 1994)
- Upon winning the mixed doubles title at the 2003 Australian Open (w/Paes), becoming the third woman (after Court and Hart) to win singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at all four Grand Slams (was the first in the Open Era to do so), also became the oldest player at 46 years, three months to win a major
- Tied with King for the all-time record of 20 Wimbledon titles
- Owns records for most singles match wins of all time (1442; Evert is next with 1304), best ever annual singles win-loss record (was 86-1 in 1983, a .989 winning percentage), and longest match win streak in Open Era (74 in 1984; Graf is next with 66 in 1989-90)

To keep up with Martina's many endeavours as she steps away from professional tennis, visit her official Web site at www.martinanavratilova.com.