Martina Navratilova turns 70 on October 18.
If that seems impossible to believe, recall that the tennis legend did not officially retire after the 2006 US Open when she was about to turn 50.
Navratilova is one of the greatest players of all time. It is hard to hand pick her three finest accomplishments, but we tried nonetheless.
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1. Career Boxed Set winner
This phrase is rarely used because in addition to Navratilova, only Margaret Court accomplished it in the Open Era.
The Career Boxed Set entails winning the Career Grand Slam: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in all three disciplines: singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
Unlike the practice in the modern era for singles players to withdraw from doubles if they got far in a tournament, Navratilova would not withdraw from doubles if she went deep in a singles draw. In fact, at the 1987 US Open, she won all three titles.
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2. 13-0 in WTA Finals doubles
She never lost the WTA Finals in doubles when she was in the draw. We are not talking about three or four appearances; she won in 13 appearances.
Considering that she was often playing both singles and doubles at those events, this record is amazing and most likely untouchable.
3. 10 mixed doubles titles
Mixed doubles is and was a discipline exclusive to the Grand Slams so Navratilova did not have as many opportunities to play. However, that did not stop her from winning 10 Grand Slams in mixed doubles.
These accomplishments only scratch the surface of Navratilova’s career highlight reel that includes 167 WTA singles titles and 177 WTA doubles titles. Both of these are Open Era records.
Her career spanned three decades (from 1974 to 2006) so she possessed a longevity that is rare.
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