Martina officially retired from professional
Tour on November 15, 1994. In the following years she didn't give
up playing tennis; now and then until 1999, while from May 23, 2000
to September 9, 2006 she made an amazing comeback. She entered women's
doubles, mixed doubles and women's singles events in 105 tournaments
(77 WTA Tour tournaments, 24 Grand Slam tournaments and 4 ITF events),
played a total of 345 matches and reached the Top Ten of the women's
doubles WTA rankings one more time (in 2003). She definitively played
her last professional match on September 9, 2006: it was a victory,
it was at the 2006 U.S. Open mixed doubles finals and it was her
59th Grand Slam title... It really happened as 'the cherry on the
cake' for Martina's extraordinary career!
Another
Wimbledon title
In 1995 Martina achieved her 19th Wimbledon title, paired with Jonathan
Stark. They won the mixed doubles crown by defeating C. Suk and
G. Fernandez 6-4 6-4 in the finals.
The "Champions'
Comeback"
Martina helped Monica Seles to come back to the professional tour.
On July 29, 1995 they fought each other for an exhibition match
at Atlantic City; Monica won 6-3 6-2 in that first appearance
after Hamburg in 1993.
Photos
- Martina & Monica, 1995
Mixed doubles again
In 1996 Martina returned to Wimbledon and played mixed doubles
with Jonathan Stark again, but they lost to G. Connell and L.
Davenport 6-7 6-7.
Photos
- Pat Cove's Photo gallery - Wimbledon 1996
Federation Cup coach
In 1997 Martina took on a coaching role for the first time, as
capitain of the U.S. Federation Cup team. They firstly lost to
The Netherlands, then defeated Japan.
World Team Tennis
Martina has often played for the WTT, the annual World Team Tennis
founded by Billie Jean King in 1981 and inaugurated in 1974, with
Billie Jean coaching the Phildelphia Freedoms.
Photos
- Pat Cove's Photo gallery - New Jersey 1994
Link
- WTT official website
Link
- Kansas City - July 23, 1998
All-Star Smash Hits
The WTT collaborates with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a non-profit
organization conceived by the popular English singer. Their tennis
events benefit AIDS research and assistance centres for sick people.
Link
- Elton John AIDS Foundation website
Link
- Houston (Texas) - September 12, 1996
The Legends
Martina joined Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Tracy Austin, Wendy
Turnbull, Virginia Wade, Rosie Casals, Evonne Goolagong, Pam Shriver,
Zina Garrison and many more in the "Women's Sports Legends"
(WSL), a group of former women tennis champions that used to play
exhibitions - often as part of charity events - all over the USA.
Photos
- Hartford (Connecticut) - November 1998
Wheelchair tennis
On November 17, 1999 Martina and Zina Garrison were present at
a wheelchair tennis exhibition in Knoxville, Tennessee. That event
raised money to finance a rehabilitation centre and the research
for paralysis cures. Also, it focused attention on this problem,
which can be considered a social issue as it involves many young
people that, even though deprived of their mobility by serious
injuries, lost neither the courage nor the willpower to carry
on aiming to achieve high levels in their sport.
Link
- article publicizing the event
Back to the list
The
Comeback I
Martina made a comeback, interrupting her retirement. Just for
a couple of months, from May to July, to play four WTA Tour doubles
tournaments as preparation for the WTT season. A short time, but
enough to present fans with good tennis, sharp and funny assertions,
love for the game and many, many emotions. She appeared again
in the WTA doubles ranking, as world ranked # 176, first player
to have been ranked in four different decades. She played again
at Wimbledon, on Centre Court, although only once, in the late
afternoon rays of sun. And she took part in the Millennium Champions
Parade, an unforgettable gathering of 59 players who made the
history of tennis.
World
Team Tennis
This year Martina joined the Schenectady County Electrics (a New
York team). She played 11 matches, winning 8 times (all doubles
matches but one, a women's singles match won by Martina).
Special
section - Martina's 2000 WTT season
A Legends event
On August 11, 2000 Martina played in the first Legends Tour event
of the year, the RCA Women's Challenge at Indianapolis, Indiana.
The exhibition lasted a couple of evenings (Friday, August 11
- Saturday, 12) during which two teams competed each other playing
eight doubles matches. They adopted the WTT score system; Tracy
Austin's team defeated Martina's team.
Special
section - RCA Women's Challenge
The Comeback goes
on!
After having played the WTT Pro League, Martina decided to protract
her return to professional tennis by playing another Grand Slam
event. Martina's first appearance in American tournaments since
1995 was warmly welcome from the public, both at New Haven and,
obviously, New York, where Martina played at the Us Open for the
23rd time in her life...
Back to the list
The Comeback II
Martina announced her schedule at the beginning of the year. It
included 12 tournaments, from March 19 to October 23, all played
together with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. They reached once the finals
(Amelia Island), twice the semifinals (Eastbourne and Toronto)
and the quarterfinals both at Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
World
Team Tennis
In spite of her busy schedule, Martina played again in the WTT
League in July. She competed for the Delaware Smash in place of
Serena Williams, forced to withdraw because of a viral infection...
Special
section - Martina's 2001 WTT season
RCA
Women's Challenge
Martina captained again her team for the two-day exhibition which
takes place in Indianapolis every year...
Special
section - RCA Women's Challenge
UWMC
Tennis Challenge
On October 6 Martina joined with André Agassi, Pete Sampras,
Jim Courier, Jana Novotna and Jonathan Stark in playing for a
very important cause: the Schick Xtreme III Tennis Challenge,
which benefits the University of Washington Medical Centre for
Breast Cancer Care and Reasearch. Also, Martina and Subaru auctioned
a special "... 2002 Autograph Edition Subaru Impreza WRX...
featuring a wild tennis-themed exterior autographed by tennis
superstars Martina Navratilova, Andre Agassi, Venus and Serena
Williams and Chris Evert among others". All proceeds benefited
patient care and research at the University of Washington Medical
Center Breast Care and Cancer Research Center.
Link
- UWMC website
Martina
vs Monica
Martina and Monica Seles
had the chance to face each other
again...
It happened on December 1st at the new 10,000 seat arena "Mohegan
Sun Casino" in Uncasville, Connecticut. Some
weeks before,
Martina was asked by casino's
vice president Paul
Munick to replace Lindsay Davenport, who had to withdraw because
of a knee injury.
Special
section - Mohegan Sun exhibition
Martina
vs Arantxa
On December 6 Martina defeated Arantxa at the Honda Challenge,
a singles exhibition match which took place at the Royal Albert
Hall in London. The final score was 7-6 4-6 10-8.
Back to the list
The Comeback III
In her third year of comeback Martina had another busy schedule;
she played 15 tournaments, won 1 WTA Tour title (Madrid) and reached
the semifinals once (Los Angeles). She also entered a women's
singles event for the first time since 1994 (Eastbourne).
Madrid, 05-25-2002
Martina wins her 166th career doubles title
Martina
vs Monica
On Thursday, November 14, Martina and Monica Seles played a singles
match at the University of Denver's Magness Arena, on the occasion
of the Rebif MS Tennis Classic, a tennis annual event which benefits
the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Colorado Chapter and the
Rocky Mountain MS Center. Monica won 7-6 6-2, though it seems
that Martina played quite well too!
Back to the list
The Comeback
IV
This year Martina had an exceptional season, full of great results,
emotions and victories... She played 24 tournaments, won 7 WTA
Tour women's doubles titles (Gold Coast, Dubai, Sarasota, Rome,
Toronto, Leipzig and Philadelphia) and 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles
titles (Australian Open and Wimbledon). She also reached 4 finals
(Birmingham, U.S. Open, Filderstadt and Federation Cup), 4 semifinals
(Miami, Carson, Moscow and WTA Tour Championships) and the quarterfinals
at Wimbledon.
World
Team Tennis
Martina's 2003 WTT team was the Philadelphia Freedoms. She played
14 matches, winning 6 times (one of her victories was a women's
singles match).
Special
section - Martina's 2003 WTT season
Federation
Cup
Martina and the U.S. team reached the finals of the Federation
Cup, which took place in Moscow from November 19 to 23. The U.S.
team defeated Belgium in the semifinals, then lost to France in
the finals; as regards Martina, she won both the matches she played
in doubles, improving her extraordinary Fed Cup record (39-0)
and confirming herself as the most sucessful player in Fed Cup
history. Also, she became the oldest player to compete in a Fed
Cup final.
Special
section - 2003 Federation Cup
Martina
enters the Top Ten
At the end of this great season Martina was world ranked #6, with
2728.00 points; as regards to the "Porsche Race to the Championships"
team standings, she and Svetlana were #3.
Back to the list
The Comeback
V
Martina played 16 tournaments, won 1 WTA Tour women's doubles
title (Vienna), and reached the mixed doubles finals at the Australian
Open, the women's doubles semifinals both at Roland Garros and
Wimbledon, the mixed doubles semifinals at the U.S. Open and the
women's doubles quarterfinals at the U.S. Open. She reached the
finals in 2 WTA Tour women's doubles events (Family Circle Cup
and Pilot Pen) and the semifinals 3 times (Tokyo, Miami and San
Diego). She also entered 5 women's singles events, included 2
Grand Slam tournaments: Roland Garros (1st round) and Wimbledon
(2nd round).
Martina
vs Monica
On March 22 Martina played a pro exhibition match against Monica
Seles at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, as
part of a series of tennis events called "Raise a Racquet."
Martina won, defeating Monica 6-4 7-6! It seems that Monica is
planning to return playing (maybe at the French Open) after the
foot injury that has taken her away from the courts for 10 months;
good luck Monica, it would be great to see you back again...
Federation
Cup
Martina was part of the U.S. team again. They reached the quarterfinals,
firstly defeating Slovenia in
Portoroz (Slovenia), then losing to Austria in Innsbruck (Austria),
later in July.
Special
section - 2004 Federation Cup
World
Team Tennis
This year Martina competed for the New York Buzz. She played 13
matches, winning 3 times (one match was a women's singles one).
Special
section - Martina's 2004 WTT season
Olympic
Games, Athens
For the first time in her career Martina
had the occasion to compete at the Olympic Games! She played women's
doubles for the U.S. team, paired with Lisa Raymond. They reached
the quarterfinals, defeated 6-4
4-6 6-4 by Japan's Shinobu Asagoe and Ai Sugiyama.
Special
section - 2004 Olympic Games
Back to the list
The
Comeback goes on!
Martina decided to play women's doubles, mixed doubles and, maybe,
women's singles for one more year and is going to begin her sixth
year of comeback in Australia (Gold Coast, Sydney and the Australian
Open). Thank you Martina, your fans are 100% behind you and ready
to support you all around the world, as usual!! It seems that
she already had to explain and defend her decision, as we can
read in the articles below...
Article
- from BBC News
Article
- from The Telegraph India
The Comeback
VI
Martina played 15 tournaments, won 1 WTA Tour women's doubles
title (Toronto), and reached the finals at Roland Garros (mixed
doubles), the semifinals at the Australian Open (mixed doubles),
Wimbledon (women's doubles) and U.S. Open (women's doubles), the
quarterfinals at the Australian Open (women's doubles), Wimbledon
(mixed doubles) and U.S. Open (mixed doubles). She reached the
semifinals of 2 WTA Tour women's doubles events (Amelia Island
and Ordina Open).
New
Zealand exhibitions
After the 2005 Australian Open, Martina moved to New Zealand to
play two singles exhibition matches against Monica Seles; the
first one was held at the ASB Bank Tennis Centre in Auckland,
on February 1st, the second one at Westpac Stadium in Christchurch,
a couple of days later. She won both the matches: congratulations,
Martina!
Special
section - New Zealand exhibitions
Liverpool
exhibition
Just a few weeks before Wimbledon, Martina was in action
at the Liverbird Developments Liverpool International Tennis Tournament.
She won both her two mixed doubles matches, paired with Jan-Michael
Gambill and with Robert Kendrick. Also, she kept the occasion
to visit the Reds Museum at Anfield and see the Champions League
trophy, just won by the Liverpool football team...
Special
section - Liverpool exhibition
World
Team Tennis
Martina joined a new WTT team called Boston Lobsters. She played
24 matches, winning 14 times (she also played 8 women's singles
matches, winning 5 times). Martina and her
team reached the WTT Eastern Conference semifinals, defeated then
by the New York Sportimes.
Special
section - Martina's 2005 WTT season
Mercantile
Tennis Challenge exhibition
On November 14 Martina joined Martina Hingis and fellow Tennis
Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Jim Courier to play at the 20th
Anniversary of the Mercantile Tennis Challenge. It was
an important anniversary because "... over the past decade
Pam Shriver's Charity Tennis Challenge has become Baltimore's
premier charitable sporting event...", as we can read in
the official website. In the past Martina won the challenge twice,
the first edition in 1986 and then in 1992. This year she won
her mixed doubles match, paired with John
McEnroe (they defeated 6-5 [7-2] Martina Hingis and Jim
Courier), and lost 4-8 to Martina Hingis in women's singles. Unfortunately,
Martina get injured during her match against Martina Hingis; consequently,
she underwent a knee surgery one month later.
Mercantile
Tennis Challenge official website
Tennis
Server Photo Archive
Back to the list
2006
Comeback
After recovering from her knee surgery (see news above), Martina
planned her 2006 schedule. Later in July Martina announced during
a press conference at Wimbledon that: "...2006 will definitively
be my last year on professional Tour...".
Article
- from ABC News
The Comeback
VII
In her seventh and last year of Comeback Martina played 12 tournaments,
winning 2 WTA Tour women's doubles titles (Strasbourg and Montréal)
and 1 more Grand Slam mixed doubles title (U.S. Open)! She also
reached the semifinals at Roland Garros (mixed doubles), the quarterfinals
both at Wimbledon (women's doubles) and U.S. Open (women's doubles),
and 2 WTA Tour women's doubles finals (Miami and Eastbourne).
Congratulations, Martina and thank you for the Memories!!
Birmingham
Martina was forced to withdraw from the event because of some
problems with her knee; nevertheless, she spent some days in Birmingham
to take part in the 25th anniversary of the tournament and to
promote her new book "Shape Your Self" signing copies
for the fans.
Photos
- Birmingham (Great Britain) - June 2006
World
Team Tennis
This year Martina competed for the Boston Lobsters again, but
she took part in two events only, playing
4 matches (1 victory).
Special
section - Martina's 2006 WTT season
End
of the Comeback
Now it's time to have a final look at Martina's comeback through
its amazing numbers.... From May 23, 2000 to September 9, 2006
Martina played 105 tournaments all over the world (from
Australia to Asia, from Arabian countries to America and Europe)
and 345 matches (winning 227 of them), paired with 24
different partners in women's doubles and 9 mixed doubles
partners. She won 12 WTA Tour women's doubles titles and
3 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles; she reached the finals
10 times (3 Grand Slam finals: once at Roland Garros, once
at the Australian Open and once at the Us Open) and the semifinals
20 times (7 Grand Slam semifinals: twice at Roland garros,
twice at Wimbledon, twice at the Us Open and once at the Australian
Open). She played 13 women's singles matches, also at Wimbledon
and Roland Garros and reached the top ten of the WTA doubles
rankings in 2003. 2003 has also been her busiest comeback season,
as she played 24 tournaments!
Comeback
- Numbers and Statistics
Comeback
- Chronological Order
Comeback
- All 105 tournaments Year by Year
Back to the list
Exhibition
against Monica Seles
Martina played an exhibition match against Monica Seles; she unfortunately
lost 6-7 6-2 1-10 [tiebreak]... The event took place at the River
Oaks Country Club in Houston on April 5.
Article
- from the River Oaks International official website
Article
- from Tennis.com
U.S. Open 'Women's Champions'
Martina wasn't given the chance to work as commentator at the
U.S. Open and she had something to regret about it (Newsday.com
showed an article which is not available any more; here's an extract
of what Martina said: "...I'll be giving all my great
knowledge to the person sitting next to me... It's kind of mind-boggling.
When you have a football team and Joe Montana becomes available,
you don't say, 'Oh, we already have a quarterback,' but that's
exactly what happened... I think the commentary is a little vanilla,
and I'd like to put some hot chili peppers in there...").
Let's hope to hear Martina at the U.S. Open next year!! However,
she went to the tournament not only as spectator, but also as
a player, as she competed in the 'Women's Champions'... She played
twice, both in singles. On Wednesday, September 5, she lost to
Conchita Martinez 6-3 5-7 [7-10] on Court 11. The evening after
she defeated Jana Novotna 5-7 7-5 [10-8] on Arthur Ashe Stadium...
Well done, Martina!
Match
statistics - from the U.S. Open official website
