Martina Navratilova, Czech-American tennis player and coach
Martina Navratilova (Czech: Martina Navrátilová [ˈmarcɪna ˈnavraːcɪlovaː] (listen); née Šubertová [ˈʃubɛrtovaː]; born October 18, 1956) is a Czechoslovakian and American former professional tennis player and coach. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women's doubles titles, and 10 major mixed doubles titles, for a combined total of 59 major titles, marking the Open Era record for the most Grand Slam titles won by a single player. She reached the Wimbledon singles final 12 times, including for nine consecutive years from 1982 through 1990, and won the women's singles title at Wimbledon a record nine times (surpassing Helen Wills Moody's eight Wimbledon titles), including a run of six consecutive titles.
Navratilova was WTA world No. 1 in singles for a total of 332 weeks, second behind Steffi Graf, and for a record 237 weeks in doubles, making her the only player, male or female, in history to have held the top spot in both singles and doubles for over 200 weeks. Navratilova is one of the three female tennis players, along with Margaret Court and Doris Hart, to have accomplished a Career Grand Slam in women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles, called the career "Grand Slam Boxed Set". Navratilova, Margaret Court and Maureen Connolly share the record for the most consecutive major singles titles. She won her last major title in 2006, adding the mixed doubles crown at the 2006 US Open to her resume just a few weeks before her 50th birthday, 32 years after her first Major title in 1974.
Originally from Czechoslovakia, she was stripped of her citizenship when, in 1975 at age 18, she asked the United States for political asylum and was granted temporary residence. At the time, Navratilova was told by the Czechoslovak Sports Federation that she was becoming too Americanized, and she should go back to school and make tennis secondary. Navratilova became a US citizen in 1981. On January 9, 2008, she reacquired Czech citizenship. She stated she has not renounced her U.S. citizenship nor does she plan to do so, and that reclaiming Czech nationality was not politically motivated. I love my birth country and the fact that it is now a free country and a true democracy. But my home is here, in the U.S. I have lived in America since 1975 and I intend to always live here. This is my home and it feels almost gratuitous to me that I have to affirm my love for the USA. I live here, I vote here, I pay my taxes here and yes, I will do my jury duty ... any reports stating I am leaving and most of all, denouncing my U.S. citizenship are simply not true and quite frankly, insulting.