.... Born on the 18th of October, 1956 in Czechoslovakia as Martina Subertova, Martina spent her first childhood years in the Krkonose Mountains where she learned how to ski from her Mother, Jana, who was a ski instructor there. Her parents got divorced when Martina was 3, and Martina moved to her mother's childhood home in the village of Revnice, outside of Prague. In Revnice, Martina's mother's family had once had a 30-acre estate, and when the Communists took power in 1948, they took the land and left the family the house and a red-clay tennis court in the yard. Martina has learned to play tennis following a family tradition: her grandmother Agnes Semanska was also a tennis player for the Czechoslovakian Federation. Martina started to play tennis with one of her grandmother's old wooden rackets; it had no grip tape and was oversized for little Martina but she spend hours hitting the balls to the wall
.... In 1962 her mother remarried to Miroslav Navratil and Martina took the family name of her adoptive father (adding the feminine suffix to Navratil”ova”) – Martina Navratilova.
.... Martina’s first tennis coach was her stepfather Mirek; he spurred her talent and encouraged her aggressive game style; he said: “Make believe you're at Wimbledon." Later, she started working with George Parma on strategy, technique and psychology of match play. She played her first Junior Tournament in 1964 and in 1972 she won the Czech Republic National Tennis Championships. After that she start to play in Germany, England, Hungary, Poland, Soviet Union and Bulgaria but just in 1973, at 16 years old, she played first time in US and her serve-and-volley game made a good impression. In first round of a tournament in Akron, Ohio she played first match with Chris Evert – was the beginning of many memorable games. In 1974, in Orlando FL, she won her first professional tournament beating Julie Headman in the final with 7-6, 6-4. Soon the Czech tennis authorities criticized her for being too friendly with Americans player like Evert B. J. King and called her "too Americanized”. In 1975, after the US Open at age 18, Martina defected and applied for political asylum. She bought a house in Texas where she start to work hard and in 1978 she won the first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon and captured the World No.1 ranking for the first time. In 1981 became a US citizen and soon she came out as bisexual - later clarified that she was a lesbian. The sexual preferences and her lesbian relationships sparked considerable media attention and Martina became favorite subject of writers.
... In time, she began to understand the importance of physical fitness, diet and nutrition and she embarked on a grueling exercise routine. She starts work out with Nancy Lieberman, a professional basketball player at that time, Renee Richards and former men's pro Mike Estep. She had dominated the professional tennis scene with an unstoppable force for the majority of the ‘80s. She won 167 singles titles, 177 doubles titles and 18 Grand Slam singles titles: 9 at Wimbledon, 4 at the US Open, 3 at the Australian Open and 2 at the French Open.
....She retired from professional singles competition in 1994 and in 2000 she came out of retirement to return to professional doubles competition. She was named to such millennium lists as ESPN's "Top 50 Athletes of the Century, AP's "World's Greatest Athletes of the Century" and "Sports Illustrated Top 100 Athletes of the Century" and in 2000 was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Left-handed, with an athletic body and superb volleying skill, Martina brings a new era of power into the traditional tennis game.
....Navratilova has devoted some of her time off of the tennis court to writing: her autobiography “Martina”, “The Total Zone”, “Killer Instinct”, “Breaking Point”, “Shape Your Self”. When away from the court, Martina is involved in various charities that benefit gay and lesbian rights, animal rights, ecology and underprivileged children.
