Navratilova was the Queen of Wimbledon's grass courts

Navratilova was the Queen of Wimbledon's grass courts

By Bruce Emond

JAKARTA (JP): Martina Navratilova will forever be associated
with Wimbledon, the tournament whose lawns she staked out as her
very private domain.

It was a hard-earned victory both for titles and for the
affections of British spectators who took several years to warm
to the emotionally intense, outspoken and sometimes churlish
Navratilova.

When she first began playing Wimbledon, Navratilova was
overshadowed by other players, especially Evonne Goolagong
Cawley, the elegant stroke-maker who became even more of a
national favorite by marrying an Englishman.

My first memory of seeing Navratilova play was in 1976 when
she faced Britain's Sue Barker in the quarterfinals. Of course,
the British crowds were pulling for the blonde Barker, who won
many matches on the strength of her pounding forehand but lacked
versatility.

My image of Navratilova was set right there. In the final set,
some very dubious line calls went against the former Czech
player, who began a protracted harangue against the officials.

Navratilova clasped her hands as though in prayer, pleading
vociferously to some unseen power to intervene and set right all
the wrongs. She continued to mutter and rant as the match
proceeded, winning in spite of herself.

Her victory was met with silence by a crowd perplexed by her
emotional outburst. The bizarre image of an irate, somewhat
overweight young woman screaming in broken English remained even
after an embarrassed announcement that two linesmen from the
match were banned from officiating for their partisan calls in
favor of Barker.

It was only a matter of time before Navratilova's game --
swinging left-handed spin serve, great volleying ability, a
powerful but suspect forehand -- brought her a Wimbledon title.

Memories

It happened in 1978 when Navratilova won Wimbledon by
defeating Chris Evert. The final holds a couple of memories for
me, including one during the first few games when Navratilova
completely missed a forehand volley at the net and gave a bemused
smile. She won the match in a tight third set but Evert pulled
the heart-strings of the crowd by walking around the net post to
hug her former doubles partner.

The crowds still did not know what to make of Navratilova when
she retained her title the following year. Evert, meanwhile, had
become Mrs. John Lloyd, slimmed down and emerged as the favorite
of the spectators. Navratilova remained the high-strung and
nervous Czech defector who could dissolve into tears as a match
slipped away from her grasp.

In 1980, Navratilova was beginning to grow up and the turmoil
in her personal life was evident in her indifferent performance
on court as she lost to Evert in the semifinal

The changes were even more evident the following year. She had
shed the baby fat she had carried for several years and let her
hair grow, reining it in with a bandanna. Her personal life,
including rumored affairs with golfer Sandra Haney and author
Rita Mae Brown, became the fodder of England's tabloid press.

Navratilova played Hana Mandlikova in a emotion-charged,
erratic semifinal that year and lost. Both players were extremely
inconsistent, playing at a level well below what is expected of
the world's best women players. Navratilova appeared uneasy
throughout the match and looked like she was glad the ordeal was
over when Mandlikova won.

Her hunted look could probably best be explained by her
exasperated comment that year that "There is no freedom for the
press in Czechoslovakia, and no freedom from the press in
England."

Navratilova was too talented to spend the rest of her career
as a perennial semifinalist. She recouped, worked with trainers,
nutritionists and psychologists, and brought the game to new
heights with her superb physical conditioning and dominating
serve-and-volley game tailored to the slick, fast grass of
Wimbledon.

The greatest irony was that she became too good, so
overpowering that her superiority invited only a grudging respect
from many onlookers. The crowds pulled for her opponents,
especially Chris Evert, Navratilova's former nemesis who had
refined her one-dimensional baseline game and played her best
tennis at the end of her career.

Then, in Navratilova's final playing days, she took on her
final role as the revered veteran. Steffi Graf had ascended to
become the world number one but Navratilova fulfilled her
ambition to break Helen Wills Moody's long-standing record of
eight Wimbledon singles title in 1991.

Navratilova, in her last hurrah, reached the final in 1994.
The long standing ovation which greeted Navratilova, the losing
finalist, was unprecedented in Wimbledon history. Fred Perry,
Britain's last Wimbledon finalist who died earlier this year,
said after the final that he had never seen a greater outpouring
of emotion during his many years visiting Wimbledon.

The brittle, self-avowed lesbian who pulled no punches in
discussing her politics or lifestyle had finally won over the
hearts of Wimbledon's staid spectators. They saw her genuine love
for Wimbledon, for its tradition and its significance, and in
turn they cherished the memories of her beautiful and unique
game.

Bruce Emond is a consultant at TriComm, the marketing
representative for the ATP Tour World Doubles Championship.