How old is Martina Navratilova, who is she married to, what cancer does she have and what was the John McEnroe pay row?
TENNIS legend Martina Navratilova has announced that she has been diagnosed with two forms of cancer.
Here’s what you need to know about the former nine-time Wimbledon champ.
Martina Navratilova covers Wimbledon with the BBCGetty Images
Who is Martina Navratilova?
Martina Navratilova was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic) in 1956.
Originally born as Martina Subertova, when her parents divorced at the age of 3, she took the name of her new stepfather Miroslav Navratil (adding the female suffix “ova”), who married Navaratilova’s mother in 1962.
Navratil would also go on to become her first tennis coach.
Starting playing tennis regularly at the age of 7, Navratilova managed to win the Czechoslovakian national championship in 1972 at the age of 15.
After turning professional in 1975, she went on to win a record 167 career titles and 59 Grand Slam titles, which includes singles (18), doubles (31) and mixed doubles (10), in a career that lasted until 2006.
Navratilova is also the most successful female tennis player to ever grace SW19 with a record 9 ladies singles championships, arguably producing some of her best performances at the All England Club.
With her attacking serve and volley style, Navratilova also spent 332 weeks as world No1 in singles and 237 weeks in doubles, making her the only ever player to have held the top spot in both for over 200 weeks.
Seen by many as one of the greatest female players of all time, she was inducted into the tennis hall of fame in 2000.
Navratilova celebrates winning Wimbledon 1987AP:Associated Press
Who is she married to?
Julia Lemigova married Martina in 2015 after nine years together.
They first met in a Parisian gay bar.
After securing US citizenship, Martina gave an interview where she came out as gay in 1981.
Before tying the knot she reportedly had difficult relationships with ex-girlfriends Toni Layton and former Miss Texas Judy Nelson.
She proposed to girlfriend Julia Lemigova in 2014 at the US Tennis Open.
What cancer does she have?
Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with two forms of cancer.
The 66-year-old discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck back in November.
It comes 13 years after the Czech-American underwent radiation therapy for breast cancer and was given the all-clear.
Speaking about her diagnosis, she said: “This double whammy is serious but still fixable.
“I’m hoping for a favourable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while but I’ll fight with all I have got.”
What was the John McEnroe pay row?
In 2019, Navratilova hit out at the BBC after discovering that fellow Wimbledon pundit John McEnroe is paid way more than her.
McEnroe’s pay packet, of £150,000 to £199,999, was revealed in a list of the BBC’s top-paid talent last summer.
But Navratilova, 61, told Panorama that she is paid around £15,000 by the BBC for her commentator role at Wimbledon.
“It was a shock because John McEnroe makes at least £150,000… I get about £15,000 for Wimbledon and unless John McEnroe’s doing a whole bunch of stuff outside of Wimbledon he’s getting at least 10 times as much money”, she said.
Navratilova said that she was told she was getting paid a comparable amount to men doing the same job as her, adding: “We were not told the truth, that’s for sure….
“(I’m) not happy… It’s shocking… It’s still the good old boys network…. The bottom line is that male voices are valued more than women’s voices.”
Navratilova, who was crowned Wimbledon ladies’ champion nine times, said that her agent will ask for more money in future.
What has she done outside of tennis?
After being stripped of her Czech citizenship in 1975, she became a US citizen in 1981 and then retook Czech citizenship 2008 to now have dual American and Czech nationality.
Navratilova has also been a very prominent activist in a number of charities.
In 2000, she received a National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, which is one of the largest activist groups for gay and lesbian rights.
