Back in her day — the roaring, hovering ’80s — Martina Navratilova sought after to win 3 tournaments greater than the entire others: Wimbledon, america Open and the WTA Tour Finals.
For the Americans, a minimum of, the Australian Open and the French Open weren’t just about as vital as they’re these days.
“It was the year-end thing and everybody played — it was our event,” Navratilova stated just lately. “For the ones supporting the excursion it supposed so much, in many various techniques.
“The prize money was massive — much bigger than the majors — for many years, until the late ’80s it started catching up. And, it was one week of work instead of two. How great is that?”
No one used to be larger on the WTA Finals, then the Virginia Slims Championships, than Navratilova. She received 8 singles titles, 3 greater than the ones subsequent in line, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf. And then there have been 13 doubles championships — possibly that’s why the year-end doubles trophy bears her title.
Where does she position the ones titles on a impressive profession resume that incorporates 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 31 extra in doubles?
“High,” Navratilova stated.
“At least it must be up there with the majors, identical stage in the event you totaled it up that means.”
Pam Shriver, who used to be Navratilova’s spouse for the ultimate 10 of the ones doubles titles (in an astonishing span of eleven years), is going even additional.
“It’s one of the great single-event records in tennis,” she stated from her house in California. “Obviously, [Rafael] Nadal’s 14 at Roland Garros are the king. But her numbers — eight singles and 13 doubles titles at the Finals — are right up there. It’s another one of those records that will never be broken or even approached. It’s crazy, really.”
For an athlete born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Navratilova used to be, for quite a few causes, an excellent have compatibility for raucous, rollicking Madison Square Garden. After successful her first WTA Finals singles identify in Oakland, California, she received the ultimate seven in New York City.
“The surface was perfect for my game,” Navratilova stated. “Playing on the carpet, the ball bounced lower than on a hard court, more like the grass at Wimbledon. I didn’t like those high bounces.”
And, she fed off the power of the a professional and excitable enthusiasts.
“The crowd,” she stated, “was pretty great. If it wasn’t sold out, it was close to it. We’d have 15,000 to 20,000 people there, and they made it easy to raise your game.”
Oddly sufficient, the Garden’s crisp lights enabled her attacking taste.
“It was better than most indoor venues,” Navratilova stated. “I could see the ball — which for me, coming to the net, was essential.”
Shriver used to be additionally an impressive singles participant, achieving the 1988 ultimate, shedding to Gabriela Sabatini.
“Yeah, but not everybody beats Evert and Graf and still doesn’t win the tournament,” Shriver stated. “You simply couldn’t beat the ambience on the Garden. The enviornment and town in point of fact did carry it to a big-time match.
Navratilova defeated seven other avid gamers in the ones 8 successful finals, doubling up Evert in 1983 after which in 1984, the 12 months the WTA went to a best-of-five-set championship. Navratilova prevailed in that one, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
The best-of-five ultimate, in position from 1984-98, used to be a layout that performed to Navratilova’s strengths.
“That was fun,” she stated. “I wish we had 3-out-of-5 in the majors because it takes a lot of stress off and puts fitness more into play.”
Another report that received’t be damaged: In 1986, when the WTA Tour used to be within the technique of transferring the year-end match to the autumn, Navratilova received two championship finals, in March and November.
She would succeed in a staggering 14 singles finals, shedding, so as, to Evert, Tracy Austin, Sylvia Hanika, Graf and Monica Seles, two times. In doubles, it used to be a hugely other tale. Navratilova complex to 13 finals — and received all of them. The first got here in 1977 with Betty Stove on the age of 20. Next got here two with Billie Jean King, in 1978 and 1980, prior to the fantastic run with Shriver.
For some sobering context, imagine that when Navratilova’s 13 doubles titles and Shriver’s 10, two avid gamers — King and Lisa Raymond — sign up for them at the podium, with 4 doubles titles each and every.
“I loved doubles,” Navratilova stated. “I was always a better doubles player than a singles player. I had great partners.”