Date: Wed, 7 Dec 1994 08:55:22 +0100 (NFT) From: Bj|rn Skolander X-Lines: 76 "CZECH THE NEWS" - NEWSLETTER OF THE EMBASSY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A. VOLUME - II, No.: 12, DECEMBER 1994 Martina Navratilova Retired ------------------------- Not many great personalities in the world can compare with her. Despite the fact that she never wrote a bestseller, that she was never a member of a parliament or government her name is known to millions of people all over the world. But last month her life changed definitively. Martina Navratilova retired from an active tennis life, after her loss to the eventual champion Gabriela Sabatini, at the Virginia Slims Championship on November 15, 1994 in New York. Although Navratilova possesses American citizenship, she is admired and loved by many Czech fans and is considered to be the most succesful female tennis player in the history of Czech tennis. Martina Navratilova was born on October 18, 1956 in Prague, the then capital of Czechoslovakia. She won her first tournament on the women's professional tour in 1974 in Orlando, Fla. She helped Czechoslovakia win its first title in the Federation Cup, a similar event to the Davis Cup, for women's national tennis teams. She was only 18 when she defected from communist Czechoslovakia to the U.S. in 1975. But Martina's first steps in her new life were not at all easy. Navratilova was not welcomed everywhere in the United States. She beat the American national idol Chris Evert, and she openly spoke out about her lesbian orientation. She was declared a "nonperson" back in her home country, and she couldn't get any contracts for TV commercials in the United States. After her first win in Wimbledon in 1978, things in her life began to change. She became a U.S. citizen on July 21, 1981; the early 80s are considered as her best days in her 22-year tennis career. She was ranked number one in the world for a record 332 weeks. She won 86 matches and lost only one in 1983; she won 78 matches and lost two in 1984. She returned to her home country to lead the U.S. National Team to capture the Federation Cup title in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1986. During her matches, the stadium was sold out and Czechoslovak fans rooted for her. Her career statistics are amazing: She won 167 tournament titles in singles competition, more than any other woman or man on the tennis circuit, she won 165 doubles titles, she won a record 74 straight singles matches and 109 consecutive doubles matches with her partner Pam Shriver. She holds 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including an unbelievable record of nine Wimbledon victories. She earned more than 20 million dollars in tournament prize money. Navratilova was named The Female Athlete of the Decade (80's) by the National Sport's Review, UPI and AP. On that November day her career ended, she was recognized not "only" as the best female tennis player ever, but as a person who transcended the borders of sport life and is known as a great personality all over the world. She supports numerous non-profit groups and charitable causes, and will remain a symbol of the fight against communism and a national heroine for the people back home in the Czech Republic. She will continue to work in women's tennis as the president of the WTA Tour, to play occasional doubles matches and a few singles exhibitions, but will be missed by every tennis fan. Martina Navratilova will go back home to spend Christmas with her parents in the small town of Revnice near Prague for the first time since 1973. She can be sure that people in the Czech Republic will always love her, as all tennis fans do all over the world.