Wimbledon Day Eleven

Martina and Mike are scheduled to play their mixed doubles quarterfinal tomorrow against the #4 seeds, Kevin Ullyett and Liezel Huber. The match has been scheduled third on Court 13.

For another photo from Martina's & Anna-Lena's doubles match yesterday, click here.

Wimbledon Day Ten

Martina won both her matches at Wimbledon today. In their womens doubles quarterfinal, Martina & Anna-Lena defeated Vera Douchevina and Shahar Peer 7-6(5) 6-4. And later, Martina & Mike won their mixed doubles third round encounter with Travis Parrott and Amy Frazier 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4. For match reports from the tournament website, click on the following links: Doubles, Mixed Doubles. And click here for a brief write-up from PA Sport. Martina also received some coverage in the Israeli press as her womens doubles opponent, Shahar Peer, was the last remaining Israeli participant at Wimbledon. Click on the following links for articles: The Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz. And here are the photos from today - lots of them! Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four, Photo Five, Photo Six, Photo Seven, Photo Eight, Photo Nine, Photo Ten, Photo Eleven, Photo Twelve, Photo Thirteen, Photo Fourteen, Photo Fifteen, Photo Sixteen, Photo Seventeen, Photo Eighteen, Photo Nineteen, Photo Twenty, Photo Twenty One, Photo Twenty Two. You will find more photos on Getty Images and ANP (do a search for "Navratilova").

Martina gets tomorrow off with no matches scheduled. I'm not exactly sure why Mike & she don't get to play their mixed doubles quarterfinal tomorrow since all the other three mixed matches are scheduled to be played then; but perhaps the extra day off will do Martina some good after a busy day at the office today.

Wimbledon Day Nine

Martina & Mike received a walkover today from their opponents, Lucas Arnold & Emmanuelle Gagliardi. Rain interruped play today at Wimbledon late in the afternoon so this turn of events was most fortuitous for our team. For photos of Martina on the practice courts today, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two. We should think of a caption contest for the second photo sometime this summer!

Martina now has two matches on schedule tomorrow. First up, in the second match on Court 2, Martina & Anna-Lena are expected to play their quarterfinal match against Vera Douchevina and Shahar Peer. Martina & Mike are later scheduled to play their third round match against Travis Parrott & Amy Frazier on a yet-to-be-determined court, no earlier than 5:00 p.m., British Summer Time.

It appears Martina's & Anna-Lena's performance in the doubles has been attracting some media attention in Germany. My special thanks to Tobias for alerting me to this. For two photos from their first and second round matches, respectively, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two. And here are a few articles in German: Frankfurter Rundschau, SID, Deutsch Presse-Agentur, sport1.de. For translation help, try Google's Language Tools. Anna-Lena confirms that Martina & she will be playing together till the U.S. Open at least so that is definitely good news.

Meanwhile, Leander spoke to 'The Times of India' at Wimbledon and while he didn't directly address why he chose not to enter the mixed, he spoke warmly of Martina and her influence on his life. He fully expects to play with her at the U.S. Open in August. Click here for more.

Wimbledon Day Eight

Martina & Anna-Lena won their third round match today, defeating the #10 seeds, Shinobu Asagoe & Katarina Srebotnik 6-3 6-3. They have already won more matches at this tournament alone than all their previous tournaments put together! For photos from today, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two. For a report from the tournament website, click here.

To read Martina's fourth column in tomorrow's edition of 'The Guardian,' already available on their website, click here.

Weather permitting, Martina & Mike are scheduled to play their second round mixed doubles match tomorrow against Lucas Arnold & Emmanuelle Gagliardi on a yet-to-be-determined court.

Wimbledon Day Seven

Martina & Anna-Lena are scheduled to play their third round match tomorrow against the #10 seeds, Shinobu Asagoe & Katarina Srebotnik in the second match on Court 3.

Wimbledon Day Six

Martina and Anna-Lena won their second round match today, defeating Denisa Chladkova and Virginie Razzano 6-1 6-4. This marks the first time that Martina & Anna-Lena have won 2 consecutive matches in a tournament. For a match report from the tournament website, click here.

Tomorrow is the Middle Sunday of Wimbledon, the traditional rest day.

Wimbledon Day Five

Rain forced play to be suspended at Wimbledon today so Martina & Anna-Lena were unable to play their second round match. The match has been postponed to tomorrow, again to be played fourth on Court 2.

For Martina's latest column in 'The Guardian,' click here. She does mention in the article that her coach, Stefan Ortega, will be available - i.e. not working with her - this summer. Now what could she mean by that??

Wimbledon Day Four

Martina got the day off today but returns tomorrow with Anna-Lena for their second round match against Denisa Chladkova and Virginie Razzano. The match has been scheduled fourth on Court 2.

Wimbledon Day Three

Game, set and match, Miss Grönefeld and Miss Navratilova, 6-3 6-3...

Oh, those sweet words! Martina and Anna-Lena had a straight sets win today over their Japanese opponents, Rika Fujiwara and Saori Obata. I had been worried about this match, I must confess - Fujiwara is of course a former semifinalist at Roland Garros and the season-ending Championships and has been ranked as high as #13. But it appears our Martina was in top form today so the ladies are safely through to the next round. For photos, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four. You can also find more photos in the Getty Images gallery. The Wimbledon website also has a short write-up which you can read here.

Meanwhile, the mixed doubles draw came out today. It turns out Leander has decided to sit out the mixed doubles due to his injury. Martina will instead be playing with Mike Bryan, the men's #5 ranked doubles player. They have been seeded fifth and receive a first round bye. For the complete draw, courtesy of the tournament website, click here.

Wimbledon Day Two

Not much to report today except that Martina is all over the news for the thoughts expressed in her most recent Guardian column.

Tomorrow, she takes to Court 3 with Anna-Lena for their first round doubles match. They take on the Japanese qualifiers, Rika Fujiwara and Saori Obata in the last match on that court. This match will mark Martina's 30th career appearance at Wimbledon dating back to 1973.

Wimbledon Day One

First, it appears Martina will once again be writing columns for 'The Guardian' over the Wimbledon fortnight. She started off with her first one today and her second one for tomorrow's edition is already available online: Column One, Column Two.

Martina had more complimentary things to say about French Open champion, Justine Henin-Hardenne, to Eurosport, along with tennis legend, Maria Bueno who also chimed in. Click here for that report.

I found a few Slovak and Czech links on Martina's appearance at the Danubiana in Bratislava over the weekend. The only problem is I have no idea what they say! If anyone can help with the translation, I'd be very much obliged. Thanks in advance: SME (1), TASR, Mlada Fronta Dnes (1), Mlada Fronta Dnes (2), SME (2). The 'Associated Press' has a brief write-up as well, in English thankfully. Click here for the article, you will need to scroll down to the middle for the part on Martina.

And finally, this is not an article primarily on Martina, but Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle has written a wonderful article on Wimbledon and what makes it so special.

Wimbledon draw

Martina & Anna-Lena are the #8 seeds at Wimbledon. They have a tough opener against the Japanese qualifiers, Rika Fujiwara and Saori Obata. Let's hope Anna-Lena has fully recovered from her injury. For the complete draw, courtesy of the tournament website, click here. In a surprising twist, Leander has been given the green light by his doctor to play at Wimbledon. As of now, he is in the men's doubles draw but was unsure as to the mixed. The mixed draw will not be done for another few days anyway. Said Leander:

"I am taking a big risk, only because it’s Wimbledon and there’s a lot at stake... Such an injury normally takes two to three months to heal, but I’m lucky… But I have to be very, very careful. I can’t dive, I can’t stretch too much. As of now, I’m playing men’s doubles… will decide about the mixed after reaching there this weekend.”

Let's hope Leander recovers well enough to play the mixed doubles with Martina next week.

Martina in Bratislava

Martina was in Bratislava, Slovakia yesterday for the opening of her friend, Juraj Kralik's art exhibition, entitled "Art Grand Slam," at the Danubiana - Meulensteen Art Museum. For information on the exhibition, courtesy of the museum website, click here. For photos from yesterday's opening, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four, Photo Five. The piece in the last photo was co-created by our Martina herself! Who knew what artistic talents she was hiding all these years! Fans will remember Martina had her own African wildlife photography exhibition in Prague in 1999.

I have not been able to find any links to articles just yet but will post them here if I come across any. If anyone of our Slovak fans has been able to visit the exhibition, please share your thoughts with us, either here or on the message board.

Semifinal end in 's-Hertogenbosch

Martina & Anna-Lena's run came to an end in the semfinals earlier this week. They were beaten in straight sets 6-4 6-3 by the #2 seeds, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Dinara Safina, who went on to win the tournament. Anna-Lena suffered a thigh injury two days earlier in her singles match where she was forced to withdraw and it is possible that she had still not fully recovered when they took to the court for their doubles semifinal. Their next tournament will be Wimbledon, their first Grand Slam tournament together.

On Wednesday, Martina and the top-ranked wheelchair tennis player, Esther Vergeer, took part in a short hitting session, seemingly in conjunction with the Laureus Sports Academy. I'm only going by the pictures available - Photo One, Photo Two - and a report in Dutch here. If someone can help with the translation, that would be great. Thanks in advance!

For a photo of Martina at a Q&A session at the tournament, click here.

You win some, you lose some

Mixed results for Martina in 's-Hertogenbosch over the last two days. Yesterday, she lost her first round singles match to Claudine Schaul 4-6 6-1 6-4. Today, along with Anna-Lena Grönefeld, she won her first round doubles match over Klara Koukalova and Lucie Safarova 6-7 6-4 6-3.

Yesterday's singles loss was definitely a heartbreaker. Martina found herself down 1-3 at the start of the match but quickly recovered, winning 6 of the next seven games to go up a set and a break - a familiar position as in her matches last year against Sequera at Amelia Island and Dulko at Wimbledon. But like those two previous matches, Martina couldn't build on that lead. She proceeded to lose the next 9 consecutive games, going two breaks down in the third. Martina rallied at that point, spurred on by the crowds - she managed to get one break back but ultimately capitulated at 4-5 with three consecutive unforced errors.

Martina and Anna-Lena survived a stiff challenge from their Czech opponents today and now find themselves in the semifinals after their quarterfinal opponents, Elena Dementieva and Michaela Krajicek, pulled out due to Dementieva's shoulder injury.

For photos from yesterday's singles match, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four. For two articles, featuring Martina's post-match comments, click on the following Reuters links: Article One, Article Two. For an interview with Martina on NOS Dutch television, click here. A translator speaks over her in Dutch but you can understand most of what she says.

Doubles draw

Martina & Anna-Lena are the #2 seeds this week in 's-Hertogenbosch and take on Klara Koukalova and Lucie Safarova in their opening match. For the complete draw, courtesy of the WTA Tour website, click here.

Martina will play her first round singles match tomorrow against Claudine Schaul. Their match has been scheduled second on Centre Court.

Singles against Claudine Schaul

The singles draw for the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands came out today. Martina, unseeded and a wildcard recipient, will take on the former Luxembourgian #1, Claudine Schaul, in her opening match. This will be Martina's first tour singles match in almost a year since last year's Wimbledon. For the complete draw, courtesy of the WTA Tour website, click here.

The doubles draw is not out yet but Martina will be partnered this week by Anna-Lena Grönefeld.

A few links from Liverpool. First, a couple of articles from The Liverpool Daily Post and The Liverpool Echo. And a few photos from Chappie on the message boards: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three.

Two for two in Liverpool

Martina won her second and final mixed doubles match in Liverpool today teaming up with Robert Kendrick to defeat Jan-Michael Gambill and Karoline Borgersen 6-4 6-4. She next heads off to the Netherlands for the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch.

For an article on yesterday's action, courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post, click here.

Leander out of Wimbledon

Really bad news... Leander's shoulder injury, sustained at the start of the Roland Garros mixed doubles final last week, will keep him sidelined for the next three to five weeks, thereby cancelling any hopes of playing at Wimbledon. For articles, click on the following links: The Calcutta Telegraph, The Indian Express.

Wimbledon will just not be the same without Lee, but our best wishes to him for a speedy recovery!

Roland Garros roundup

We're all aware by now of what happened at Roland Garros but here is a brief summary. Well, the tournament did not begin well as Martina & Arantxa, as expected, crashed out of the womens doubles in the first round, beaten 6-4 3-6 6-3 by Lourdes Dominguez Lino & Nuri Llagostera Vives. Martina's attention then turned to the mixed doubles with Leander where they were seeded sixth. They won their opening match defeating Nicolas Devilder & Stephanie Foretz 6-4 6-3. In the second round, they defeated Simon Aspelin & Dinara Safina 6-4 6-0 in a shockingly easy match. On to the quarterfinals where they faced a tough test against Jared Palmer & Corina Morariu. Our team was down a break in the third before they recovered to score a 7-6 4-6 6-3 victory. And before it could sink in that Martina was in her first Roland Garros semifinal since 1988, they reached the finals with a 6-2 6-3 demolition of Paul Hanley & Samantha Stosur.

Unfortunately, disaster struck in the final against Fabrice Santoro & Daniela Hantuchova, during Leander's opening service game. He fell on his right shoulder, diving for a return and the injury was serious enough that it will now take him three to five weeks to recover fully which will force him to miss Wimbledon. Despite the injury, our team took the first set and were up a break at 2-0 in the third with a point for 3-0 when it all began to unravel; they proceeded to lose six games in a row and with that died Martina's hopes of a third mixed doubles title at Roland Garros, 3-6 6-3 6-2.

There was not much media coverage of Martina over the fortnight despite making the mixed doubles finals. She was pointedly ignored on the tournament website with not even a photo from the courts. The Roland Garros website is notorious anyway for being the worst of the four Grand Slam websites so that should not come as a surprise. For a few photos, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four. You will also find photos on the websites of Getty Images and Wire Images - do a search for "Navratilova" in the search box on the left. For two video clips, click on the following links: France 2 & Eurosport (interview with Matthias Stach & Barbara Schett). Martina & Arantxa held a press conference after their first round loss but unfortunately, the transcripts are not available online. Quotes from that press conference were included in this nice article from The Daily Telegraph and a short blurb from the Associated Press (scroll to the middle of the page). They don't seem to have had a press conference after the mixed doubles final but for articles of interest click on the following links: The Indian Express, United News of India, rediff.com.

Liverpool news

Martina is in Liverpool, England this week for the Liverbirds Development Liverpool International Tennis Tournament (that really is the full name of the tournament!) This is a men's exhibition event that also features two mixed doubles matches, both of which involve Martina. She played her first match today partnering Jan-Michael Gambill and together they defeated Ivan Ljubicic and Samantha Smith 6-2 6-7 10-6 (final set super tie-break). Martina will play her second and final match tomorrow when she will team up with Robert Kendrick to take on Gambill and Karoline Borgersen.

Yesterday, Martina received a tour of the famous Liverpool Football Club at Anfield by former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson. She got to see the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool FC, the reigning UEFA Champions League winners, and posed for the photographers along with Ivan Ljubicic.

There has been great coverage of Martina in the Liverpool Echo - click on the following links for articles: Article One, Article Two, Article Three, Article Four. Please note that some of the articles are continued on the second page so click on the "2" to read on. For other articles, click on the following links: PA Sport (1), PA Sport (2), ITN. The last ITN article is accompanied by a short video clip of Martina being interviewed at Anfield.

For photos, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four. The last two photos from the tournament website are from a practice session at Liverpool with Karoline Borgersen, the Norwegian #1 (pictured with Martina in Photo Three).