| | Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- 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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