Martina Subertova was born on 18 October 1956, in Prague, Czechoslovakia. She is a retired professional tennis player and coach, best known for being one of the greatest female tennis players ever, as she held the World No. 1 spot for a total of 332 weeks as a singles competitor. All of her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Martina Navratilova? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $15 million, mostly earned through a successful career in professional tennis. She won a total of 18 Grand Slam singles titles and a record-breaking 31 women’s doubles titles. She also holds the record for Wimbledon singles wins at nine; all of these ensured the position of her wealth.
Martina Navratilova Net Worth $15 million
Navratilova’s mother was an accomplished tennis player, gymnast, and ski instructor. After her parents’ divorce, her mother would marry Miroslav Navratil who would become Martina’s first tennis coach. She was already playing tennis regularly at the age of seven and in 1972 she won the Czechoslovakia national tennis championship. The following year, she made her debut with the United States Lawn Tennis Association, winning her first professional singles title two years later. She continued to achieve high placings, and then at 18 years old, she defected from Communist Czechoslovakia to become a US citizen. She then teamed up with Chris Evert to win the French Open women’s doubles title, making an appearance once again as a duo the following year to win the Wimbledon doubles title.
In 1978, Navratilova would win her first major singles title at Wimbledon. She became the World No. 1 for the first time, and would successfully defend her title the following year. She had developed a good rivalry with Evert, and in 1981 she was defeated in the Women’s Tennis Association championship. Martina then started to work with Nancy Lieberman to improve her fitness and mental approach towards the game. It would pay off, as she would win the Australian Open, once again defeating Evert. After losing in the US Open, she would go on and win the French Open in 1982.
Eventually, after a lot of hard work, Martina became the most dominant player in women’s tennis. She won three major titles in 1983 and would lose only six singles matches in the next three years. In 1984, she would hold all four major singles titles, an achievement called a “Grand Slam”. She continued this streak to two more major tournament wins but lost in the 1984 Australian Open, ending her 74-match winning streak.
After this dominant singles run, she would partner with Pam Shriver, and they would achieve a doubles “Grand Slam”. They would go on a 109-match winning streak from 1983 to 1985 while Navratilova also reached the finals of all 11 major tournaments as a singles competitor during this run. In 1987, Martina continued to be dominant with finals appearances in all major tournaments despite new names such as Steffi Graf entering the scene. The following year, Graf would win all four major titles, but at the age of 34, Martina would beat her in the 1991 US Open, not the final. Martina’s last major tournament win was in 1990, and she would soon retire from full-time competition at the age of 37. She returned to play doubles events, and in 2006 made her final Wimbledon appearance.
For her personal life, it is known that Navratilova declared herself bisexual and had a relationship with Rita Mae Brown. She also had a relationship with Nancy Lieberman and then declared herself as a lesbian. From 1984 to 1991, she had a relationship with Judy Nelson, and in 2014 she married long-time girlfriend Julia Lemigova. Aside from these, she was also once previously treated for breast cancer.
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