LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Martina Navratilova
built 634 days ago
Martina Navratilova was born on October. 18, 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and became a U.S. citizen in 1981, after defecting six years earlier. She was raised by her mother, Jana, and stepfather, Mirek Navratil, whose name she took. Arguably the greatest player of all time, she was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.
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Martina Navratilova was born on October 18, 1956 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. She first came to the United States in 1973 and in 1975 she played her first US Open and received her Green Card. On July 21, 1981 Martina became an American citizen.
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In what was then considered a bold move, Martina organized what came to be popularly known as "Team Navratilova" to devise the strategy and tactics, psychological and physical, to confound Evert's game. And impressively it worked for a record 13 consecutive matches between 1983 and 84. While these tactics created frictions outside of the results, Chris certainly understood the need for certain barriers within a rivalry like theirs.
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As she approaches her 50th birthday, Navratilova announced she would retire from the doubles game after this tournament. So the 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kveta Peschke and Martin Damm put the crowning moment on a storied career.
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Navratilova yet pudgy, began her run at Moody by coming from behind in the third set to beat top-seeded Evert, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the 1978 final. She repeated over Evert, but was deterred, momentarily, in the 1980 and 1981 semis by Evert 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Hana Mandlikova, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
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Beginning in 1981, Martina trained with basketball great Nancy Lieberman, gaining skills and strength to heighten her already impressive athletic ability. All the training paid off, because in 1982 Martina won a record 15 singles tournaments and, 14 doubles tournaments: a total of 29 tournaments in one year.
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Martina Navratilova