Martina Navratilova

Czechoslovakian-born American tennis champion, outstanding with 167 titles, including nine Wimbledon singles. 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.

In the summer of 1972 she won the Czech National Championship. She made her first visit to the U.S. on 22 March 1973. Two years later she was ready to defect from her homeland, on 5 September 1975. Her first Wimbledon win was in July 1978, the year she became the World No. 1 player.

Navratilova became a U.S. citizen on 20 July 1981. Early in 1982, she suffered from toxoplasmosis.

Born into a tennis-oriented family, she had the models of her grandmother, step-dad and mom as champions or administrators in the game. Spending her childhood in the Krkonose Mountains, she learned to ski as soon as she could walk. When she was five, the family moved to Prague, where she watched her folks play tournaments. She became obsessed with batting a ball against the wall for practice. At eight, she signed to play her first tournament. Off the court, she swam, skied, and played soccer and ice hockey, but nothing interfered with her love of tennis.

At 14, she captured her first title, and in 1973, she began her first tour on the circuit. Visiting the U.S., she fell in love with junk food and gained 20 lbs: 5' 8" and over 150 lbs, she failed to win any of the matches. By the following year, she was winning most of them.

In 1977, she was sharing a house in Dallas, Texas with Sandra Haynie, the pro golfer. From 1979-1981, writer Rita Mae Brown was her companion until Navratilova began an affair with basketball star Nancy Lieberman. In March 1984, she began a relationship with Judy Nelson, signing a non-marital cohabitation contract on 12 February 1986. Navratilova left Nelson for Olympic skier Cindy Nelson, separating on 3 February 1991.