"It hurts but I still have 2 arms, 2 legs & a heart" - When Martina Navratilova was robbed of Calendar Grand Slam and lost 74-match win streak
Martina Navratilova holds the record for the longest winning streak in tennis history at 74 matches. The streak was set during 1984 and came to an end during that year's Australian Open.
Navratilova's winning streak involved 13 tournament wins, including three Grand Slams at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She entered the Australian Open as the top seed and entered the semifinals with wins over Yvonne Vermaak, Mary Lou Piatek, Kathy Rinaldi, and Barbara Potter.
Here, Navratilova faced Helena Sukova and started strongly by winning the first set 6-1. However, the Czech bounced back and registered a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win to reach her first Grand Slam final. The loss not only ended Martina Navratilova's 74-match winning streak but also put an end to her hopes of winning the Calendar Slam in 1984.
Following the match, the then-28-year-old said that while the defeat hurt, she would get over it.
''How important is anything? It hurts, but I'll get over it. I still have two arms, two legs and a heart," Navratilova said, as quoted by the New York Times.
The then-World No. 1 also said:
"If I'd have won, I'd have done it all. If I lost I had to start from scratch. Both are hard to cope with."
While Martina Navratilova did not win the Calendar Slam in singles in 1984, she did attain the feat in doubles that year, with Pam Shriver as her partner.
Martina Navratilova fell one Major short of a Calendar Grand Slam twice during her singles career
Martina Navratilova had two years in her career when she won three out of four Grand Slams. The first of these came in 1983 when she won the Wimbledon and US Open without dropping a single set. Navratilova lost only 25 games en route to her triumph at SW 19 while losing just 19 in her title run at the New York Major.
The one Grand Slam the Czech-American did not win was the French Open when she was the defending champion. Martina Navratilova booked her place in the fourth round with dominant wins over Mary Lou Piatek (6-1, 6-1), Katerina Skronska (6-1, 6-1) and Wendy White (6-0, 6-3). Here, she faced Kathy Horvath and lost 4-6, 6-0, 3-6.
1984 was the second year when the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion missed out on the Calendar Slam by just one Major. 1985 and 1987 were two years when Navratilova reached the finals at all four Grand Slams. In 1985, she triumphed at the Australian Open and Wimbledon while losing to Chris Evert and Hana Mandlikova at the French Open and US Open, respectively.
In 1987, the Czech-American lost the title clashes at the Australian Open and the French Open while winning at SW 19 and Flushing Meadows, beating Steffi Graf in both finals.