Martina Navratilova died in 1956.
Martina Navratilova ( Martina Navrátilová [ ˈmarcɪna ˈnavraːcɪlovaː ] ; born Martina Šubertová [ ˈmarcɪna ˈʃubɛrtovaː ] ; October 18 , 1956 ) is a Czech and American retired tennis player and coach . Her record as No. 1 in singles ( 1982 -- 86 ) is the most dominant in professional tennis . She holds the best season win-loss record for the open era , 86-1 ( 98.9 % ) in 1983 , and four of the top six open era seasons . Originally from Czechoslovakia , she was stripped of her citizenship when , in 1975 at the age of 18 , she asked the United States for political asylum and was granted temporary residency . Navratilova became a US citizen in 1981 , and on January 9 , 2008 , she acquired Czech citizenship .