Labels:text | human face | smile | screenshot | letter | person OCR: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Navratilova, Martina Martina Navratilova "That extraordinary slicing backhand, that was very disagreeable," former Czech tennis star Vlasta Vopickova said of Navratilova after the 15-year-old defeated her in the 1972 national championship. Navratilova's cannonball service and punishing volleys sent her to the top of women's tennis, which she dominated for over a decade. Navratilova defected to the U.S. in the 1970s to develop her career, becoming an unofficial ambassador for the women's game. She was the first female tennis player to win millions in sponsorship and prize money. In spite of her great rivalries, first with Chris Evert and later Steffi Graf, Navratilova was still able to break records right up to her ninth Wimbledon singles title in 1990. Off the tennis court, her lesbian lifestyle was Martina Navratilova, criticized in the press, and there was widespread Czech-U.S. tennis player, coverage when an ex-lover sued her for 1956 - palimony. After her retirement from the game in 1994, Navratilova became the first openly gay person to forge a career in sports broadcasting while maintaining her support for lesbian and gay rights. CHRONOLOGY
