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Monday, June 26
 
Martina: 'It doesn't get any better'

Associated Press

EASTBOURNE, England -- Martina Navratilova insists the results don't matter. Being back at Wimbledon is all that counts.

Martina Navratilova
Navratilova won her first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1978.
"I did this for the enjoyment of the game and that still is there," she said. "I'm pleased with how I'm playing. I can still put it together at this age, and not having played for four years. I'm having a great time. It doesn't get any better."

The 43-year-old tennis great, playing with partner Mariaan De Swardt, hasn't been winning much in her summer return to the women's doubles circuit.

The pair lost in the second round in Madrid, the third round of the French Open and the first round of last week's grass-court tournament in Eastbourne.

"Losing stinks," Navratilova said after last Wednesday's 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Ai Sugiyama and Nathalie Tauziat. "It always has and it still does. I had so much fun out there I wanted to play one more set at least, but that's how it goes."

Navratilova won 11 singles and five doubles titles at Eastbourne before retiring. Now she returns this week to Wimbledon, where she won 19 titles (nine singles, seven doubles and three mixed doubles).

CALL FROM THE HALL
In January, Martina Navratilova was voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Before retiring from singles play in 1994, Navratilova won 167 singles titles, 165 doubles crowns and 1,438 singles match wins -- all records, male or female. She also won 56 Grand Slam titles, including 18 major singles crowns.

As a singles player, Navratilova had winning streaks of 74, 58 and 54 matches. She also teamed with Pam Shriver to win a record 109 consecutive doubles matches over a two-year span in the mid-1980s.

Navratilova will be formally inducted July 15 in Newport, R.I. Australian Davis Cupper Malcolm Anderson and Robert Kelleher, who as president of the U.S. Lawn and Tennis Association helped lead the fight for Open tennis, also will be inducted.

"I don't think I've ever practiced so much and had so little match play," she said. "But it's going to be great when I get there."

Despite her lack of success so far during the three-month tour, Navratilova said it has all been worth it.

"I just wanted to play again," she said. "I wasn't thinking about what the result might be. I enjoy playing tennis and I enjoy competing, and I enjoy the process that it takes to get there."

Navratilova hopes she and De Swardt get the chance to work their way up to the show courts at Wimbledon. But if not, she'll have no regrets about her comeback.

"Absolutely not!" she said. "I could lose both doubles and mixed in the first round and not regret one bit. It's not the end result. If the end result is there, great, but if it's not, I'm going to have a beer and say 'good try.' "

Navratilova said she was moved when she spotted an elderly woman with a walking support who came to watch her play in Eastbourne.

"How honored can you get for people to be making an effort like that to see you play tennis?" she said. "It's a treat and why there will never be any regrets if I don't win."

There is no decision yet on a return to the U.S. Open, but she is not enthusiastic about pounding her body on the hard courts.

"It's nice to be on the grass," she said. "It feels great on the body, but I love playing on the clay, too. Clay or grass, I don't really want to play on anything else."






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