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Navratilova becomes oldest tennis player in Olympics
Martina Navratilova has set yet another record. At 47 and competing in the first Olympics of her life, the American became the oldest tennis player in the history of the games when she and Lisa Raymond posted an easy first-round 6-0, 6-2 win.
Martina Navratilova has set yet another record.
At 47 and competing in the first Olympics of her life, the American became the oldest tennis player in the history of the games when she and Lisa Raymond posted an easy first-round 6-0, 6-2 win over wild-card doubles entries Yulia Beygelzimer and Tetyana Perebiynis of Ukraine.
Navratilova, the winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, received a standing ovation both when she stepped onto center court and when she left smiling, laughing and waving.
Two months short of her 48th birthday, Navratilova is almost four years older than fellow American Blanche Hilliard, who was 44 at the 1908 London Olympics. Norman Brookes of Australia, was 46 when he competed at the 1924 Paris games.
An old hand at tennis on a farewell tour before retiring again at the end of the year, Navratilova was still not completely exempt from first-time jitters.
"On my first serve of the match, I thought: 'OK, this is your first Olympic toss.' And it was a good one, and a good serve, and that was all the jitters I had," said Navratilova, who lingered on court for a few minutes to sign autographs on everything from tickets to a Greek flag.
"We stayed late to watch her," said Fabrice Blanc, a French supporter who traveled with friends to Athens to watch the Olympic tennis and basketball tournaments. "We watched the matches today. We were tired, but we stayed to see her. She is such a legend."
Navratilova quit tennis in 1994, then returned as a doubles player in 2000.