Martina Navratilova could yet make an emotional return to Wimbledon singles action in what she insists will definitely be her last year of competition, but only if she starts winning.
Navratilova lost her first Grand Slam singles match for 10 years at Roland Garros yesterday at the age of 47, beaten by Argentinian teenager Gisela Dulko, 28 years her junior.
It was her third attempt at singles this year and she has lost all three matches on clay. But the woman whose brilliance brought her 18 Wimbledon titles, including nine in singles, in a career which has amassed 167 tour singles titles and 173 doubles crowns, is convinced that she can win again on grass.
She has earmarked the pre-Wimbledon event at Eastbourne, where she has been accepted to play in the qualifying tournament, as the litmus test for whether she will ask for a wild card into the Wimbledon singles.
She said: "We'll see how the body holds up. I need to win a few matches at Eastbourne before I would put myself on the line at Wimbledon. Of course that will be on grass, so it's a slightly different ball game than playing on clay. But I don't know right now."
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
