Back in her day – the roaring, soaring ’80s – there were three events Martina Navratilova wanted most to win: Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the WTA Tour Finals.
For Americans at least, the Australian Open and Roland Garros were far less important than they are today.
“It’s an end-of-year thing, everyone participates – it’s our event,” Navratilova said recently. “For those who support this tour, it means a lot in so many ways.
“For many years, the prize money was huge – much bigger than the Grand Slams, and it wasn’t until the late ’80s that it started to catch up. And, it was only a week’s work, not two weeks. How awesome is that?
No one was better than Navratilova at the WTA Finals and Virginia Slender Championship. She has won eight singles titles, three more than second-placed Serena Williams and Steffi Graf. And then there are 13 doubles titles – maybe that’s why the year-end doubles trophy is named after her.
Where does she place these titles in her illustrious career, which includes 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 31 doubles titles?
“High,” Navratilova said.
“At least, if you add it up like that, it should be on the same level as the majors.”
Pam Shriver, whose partner Navratilova has won the last 10 doubles (an astonishing 11 years), went even further.
“This is one of the greatest single records in tennis,” she said from her home in California. “Obviously, (Rafael) Nadal’s 14 points at Roland Garros are the king. But her numbers – eight singles titles and 13 doubles titles in the finals – are at the top. This is another one that will never be the same. A record that would be broken or even come close. “It’s really crazy. “
For an athlete born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Navratilova was a perfect fit for the loud, choppy Madison Square Garden for a number of reasons. After winning her first WTA Finals singles title in Oakland, California, she went on to win her final seven matches in New York.
“The surface is perfect for my game,” Navratilova said. “When you play on carpet, the ball bounces lower than on a hard court, more like the grass at Wimbledon. “I don’t like those high bounce rates. “
And, she feeds off the energy of knowledgeable and excited fans.
“The crowds were huge,” she said. It’s close, if not sold out. “We have 15,000 to 20,000 employees there, and they make it easy for you to improve.”
Oddly enough, the bright lights of the garden enabled her aggressive style.
“This is better than most indoor venues,” Navratilova said. “I can see the ball – that’s crucial for me to score goals.”
Shriver was also a formidable singles player, reaching the finals in 1988, losing to Gabriella Sabatini.
“Yeah, but not everybody can beat Evert and Graf and still not win the game,” Shriver said. “The atmosphere in the gardens is unparalleled. The arena and the city really elevate it to a major event.
Navratilova defeated seven different players in those eight finals, defeating Evert in 1983 and 1984, the year the WTA entered the best-of-five-set championship match. Navratilova won that match 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
The best-of-five finals, held from 1984-98, were a format that played to Navratilova’s strengths.
“It’s fun,” she said. “I hope we can go three out of five in the majors because that takes a lot of the pressure off and allows the physicality to come into play more.”
Another record that cannot be broken: In 1986, when the WTA Tour moved its year-end events to the autumn, Navratilova won the final twice, in March and November.
She reached the finals in a staggering 14 singles matches, losing twice to Evert, Tracy Austin, Sylvia Hanica, Graf and Monica Seles. In doubles, it’s a different story. Navratilova reached the finals 13 times and won all of them. The first one was in 1977 with Betty Stove when she was 20 years old. Two more collaborations with Billie Jean King followed, in 1978 and 1980, followed by a brilliant run with Shriver.
For some sobering context, consider that after Navratilova’s 13 doubles titles and Shriver’s 10, two players — Kim and Lisa Raymond Germany (Lisa Raymond) – joined their ranks, each won 4 doubles championships.
“I love doubles,” Navratilova said. “I’ve always been a better doubles player than a singles player. “I have great partners. “