Martina loving WTT more than ever now

Bryce Alderton

One of the reasons Martina Navratilova likes World Team Tennis so

much is focus on gender equality with everything from prize money to

the players that make up each team.

The champion of several charities, including the creation of The

Rainbow Card, a VISA credit card program targeted to the gay and

lesbian community, made her return to Newport Beach Saturday night

for a match between the Philadelphia Freedoms and the host Newport

Beach Breakers at Palisades Tennis Club.

Before the match, won by the Breakers, 25-13, Navratilova, 46, sat

on the Freedoms’ sideline, gazing across center court, her eyes

shaded with a pair of Oakley sunglasses.

Boys and girls accompanied their parents into the stands, ready to

watch a living legend.

Navratilova became the oldest Wimbledon champion earlier this

month when she and partner Leander Paes captured the mixed doubles

crown at the All England Club, tying Billie Jean King for the most

titles in the event with 20. King was in attendance at Saturday’s

match.

“I like World Team Tennis because there is equal prize money and

even genders on teams,” Navratilova said. “It gives something for

both boys and girls to grow into.”

Navratilova has grown into quite a champion, both on and off the

court. She holds more singles titles than any man or women with 167.

She has her sights set on Florida, where she will make her

permanent residence in Sarasota, leaving the mountainous region of

Aspen, Colo.

Preservation of the area’s wildlife and environment lead her ideas

for change.

“Kids are well-represented most of the time, but it’s the

environment that gets left behind,” she said.

Navratilova is hardly left lagging these days.

“I’m getting more ovations now that I won [Wimbledon],” she said.

“I was just thrilled to be on center court again. It’s all a bonus

now.”

In January’s Australian Open, the first of the four tennis majors,

Navratilova won the mixed doubles title with Paes to become the third

woman to win singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at all four

Grand Slam events.

Much of her success can be attributed to the spectators.

“The crowd has kept me in it,” Navratilova said. “To have people

treat me the way they do, it made me want to play good tennis and I

knew I could play that way.”

Navratilova often joked, smiled and talked to the Palisades crowd

Saturday, proving she needs them as much as they want to see her. She

last played in Newport for Atlanta in 1993, when the facility was

called the John Wayne Tennis Club.