Known for her serve and volley game, and facing some of the toughest opposition of her generastion, Martina Navratilova has to be the greatest woman tennis player ever.

During her great career she captured three Australian Open titles, two French Opens, five Wimbledon Opens and four US Opens. She captured a total of 167 titles in her 31-year career, which is also a record among both men and women.

Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She had a run of 11 consecutive Grand Slam titles, second only to Steffi Graf's record 13.

'She won a total of 167 titles in her career which included ten doubles Grand Slam titles as well'


Martina was born in Czechoslovakia but became a US citizen at the age of 18. But, thanks to the US government, she has been able to claim her original birthright in the Czech Republic.

At the start of her career she was criticised for her weight but overcame this problem by her sheer determination. She was also known for her great fitness and because of this she was able to become oldest Grand Slam champion at the age of 46.

She was a great tennis player with abundant talent and will to win. There was great rivalry with Graf, who eventually took her World No.1 title, but both women were involved in some extraordinary matches throughout their battle for supremecy.

For what seemed endless years, they dominated the women's game, exchanging Grand Slam titles until at one stage they actually held nine each.

But Martina’s record of accumulating most singles titles has not yet been broken by any tennis player, male or female, making her the greatest ever in my book.