| 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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