Champions Don't Stop Trying
Prestige Singapore|October 2017
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is always in it to win it. The ambassador of the 2017 BNP Paribas WTA Finals chats with Melainne Chiew
Melainne Chiew
Champions Don't Stop Trying
ON COURT, MARTINA Navratilova is a beast. She lunges towards the ball with feverish ambition — even if it means missing her footing and scraping the ground for the save. Blood and pain aside, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion confesses she has almost an addiction to winning a match. But really, she’s simply a fighter.

“For all matches, I go in with the mentality that I have the chance to win the tournament,” she says. “Depending on who you are playing, you make game plans. On the day of the match you run through the place, what you want to do, and practise according to the game plan. The routine is pretty much the same, and the mindset is the same: I have the chance to win every match.”

Off the court, the famous left handed sportswoman reinvented traditional notions of athleticism, introducing a well-rounded training regime beyond the tennis court. During a time where cross training was relatively unheard of in pro tennis, Navratilova added weight training, basketball and running to improve her reach and footwork. It gave her tremendous physical advantage and stellar reaction time and speed. At the peak of her career, Navratilova was unstoppable.

The most successful player in history for the season-ending WTA finals — a record eight times — returns as its ambassador for the 2017 edition this month.

NEWS ARTICLES DESCRIBING YOU ARE LITTERED WITH PHRASES SUCH AS “ALL-TIME RECORD”. WERE YOU FIXATED ON WINNING OR DID YOU SIMPLY LOVE THE SPORT?

This story is from the October 2017 edition of Prestige Singapore.

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This story is from the October 2017 edition of Prestige Singapore.

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