LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Martina Navratilova: United States
built 633 days ago
Born October 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Navratilova emigrated to the United States at the age of 19 to leave behind the oppressive communist regime in power in her home country. By 1980, she had already earned two Wimbledon championships, been named tour player of the year twice, and won a countless number of singles and doubles matches; she was the most dominant player in tennis at the time. She went on to win another 7 Wimbledon titles in the following years and during the 1983 season, lost only one of the 87 matches she played that year.
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Navratilova has devoted some of her time off of the tennis court to writing. Her autobiography Martina chronicles her life from growing up in the former Czechoslovakia to her defection to the United States and subsequent rise to greatness and reveals much about trials and triumphs she has experienced along the way. Her mystery novels The Total Zone and Breaking Point were released in 1994 and 1996
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Navratilova has had to come through personal trauma. The Czech defected from her native land to settle in the United States as a sensitive teenager, a little heartbroken, a little lonely. A junk food diet and the effect it had on her body reflected her inner turmoil. Later, she came under pressure concerning her sexuality.
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In 1975, Navratilova entered the United States as a pudgy, unsure adolescent. Over the next twenty years, she honed herself into an aggressive serve-and-volley player, with a muscularity and drive that often alienated those who preferred more femininity in their female athletes. Nevertheless, her dynamic style revitalized world professional tennis.
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Not so long ago, Americans saw Navratilova as the embodiment of otherness: the mysterious, left-handed Soviet-bloc athlete using her obviously state-manufactured prowess and strength to do battle with lovable blond American sweetheart Chris Evert and her wicked two-handed backhand. Like other athletes from Communist countries, Navratilova faced an inconsistent blend of bias -- hatred and scorn mixed with resentful awe. Yet as far back as when she was growing up outside of Prague, twig-thin and tiny but even then ready to swing big, Martina in many ways thought of herself as American.
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