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One more time Navratilova to play doubles at Wimbledon
Posted: Wednesday April 26, 2000 10:45 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Martina Navratilova, retired since November 1994, will enter the women's doubles draw at Wimbledon, her spokeswoman said Tuesday. Navratilova, a nine-time singles champion at Wimbledon, will play with South Africa's Mariaan de Swardt at the tournament which runs June 26 to July 9, said Linda Dozoretz. "Wimbledon has always been the most special to her. She always left the door open that she may do it again," Dozoretz said. Navratilova, 43, has won seven women's double titles and three mixed doubles competitions at Wimbledon, giving her a total of 19 titles. That mark is one shy of Billie Jean King's record of 20. "I think she's always had her eye on that," Dozoretz said of the record. "She's been playing a lot and feeling good about it. She's still very much in shape." Dozoretz said Navratilova enjoyed seeing former Wimbledon singles champions John McEnroe and Steffi Graf pair in the mixed doubles event last year. They reached the semifinals before Graf withdrew to concentrate on the singles final, which she lost to Lindsay Davenport. Navratilova gained a wild-card entry last week to compete with de Swardt at a tuneup event in Eastbourne, England, from June 17-24. Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and a record 332 career championships before retiring. De Swardt, 29, won the Eastbourne doubles title with Jana Novotna in 1998.
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