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Navratilova advances at Gold Coast Posted: Tuesday December 31, 2002 12:36 PMGOLD COAST, Australia (AP) -- Martina Navratilova shook off last-minute jitters Tuesday to win her first tennis match in Australia in 12 years. Navratilova teamed with 17-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova to beat Evegenia Koulikovskaya of Russia and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in a first-round doubles at the Australian women's hardcourt championships. Navratilova, 46, admitted to being nervous. "I had the worst returning game of my career that first game," said Navratilova, who has 56 Grand Slam titles. "A shaky start, but it turned out OK." Navratilova is in the final year of a three-year comeback campaign and also will play with Kuznetsova at the Australian Open in January. She has not lost a doubles match in Australia in 21 years, including the six years she spent in retirement from 1994. That record will be tested in the next round when she meets the top-seeded doubles team, American Meghann Shaughnessy and Japan's Ai Sugiyama. In singles, top-seeded Patty Schnyder reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Francesca Schiavone, eighth-seeded Barbara Schett advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Els Callens, and Lina Krasnoroutskaya beat Fabiola Zuluaga 6-3, 6-1.
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