Navratilova Reaches a Plateau but Has to Do It the Hard Way
Martina Navratilova is the first tennis player in history to earn more than $10 million.
She defeated Helena Sukova, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6, at Piscataway, N.J., Saturday to win the $150,000 Computerland U.S. Women’s Indoor championship for the fourth time. But the match ended on a controversial point.
Navratilova served an ace to finish the 1-hour 40-minute match, but her angled serve seemed out to many in the crowd. Sukova made a half-hearted attempt to return it and then looked in disbelief when she realized it was not called out.
“Helena pointed to a spot but I didn’t see one,” Navratilova said. “I thought it caught half the (side) line or else I couldn’t have taken it, even though it was worth a lot of money and a fur coat I didn’t even know about.”
Sukova did not agree with the linesman. “I’m 100% the serve was wide,” the Czechoslovakian said. “Obviously, I thought it was wide enough to be called out.”
The hard-fought victory was worth $32,000 to the six-time Wimbledon champion and boosted her career earning to $10,006,424.
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