Martina Navratilova
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Martina Navratilova

United States
Active Retired #1 career high 167 titles Left-handed One-Handed BH 173cm
18 Grand Slams
  • Australian Open 3
  • Roland Garros 2
  • Wimbledon 9
  • US Open 4
Greatest serve-and-volley player in women's tennis history. Left-handed with exceptional net skills, athletic movement, and the fitness to dominate for over two decades.

Coaches: Renee Richards, Mike Estep

Video Library (38 videos)

Name FPS Duration
navratilova seles Navratilova's and Seles's groundstrokes in a classic lesson setting, filmed from CourtLevel. You can clearly see how each player’s shoulder turn and trunk rotation differ in timing and depth, with Seles using a more pronounced upper-body coil while Navratilova’s trunk uncoils earlier in the swing.
16.2s
BH Volley · Front Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the net area, filmed from the front. Her hips stay relatively square to the net while a strong knee bend and forward leg drive into the court are clearly visible during contact.
3.7s
BH Volley · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley warmup from a central court position, filmed from a front warmup angle. Her racket face stays slightly open at contact with the ball meeting the strings just in front of her body at about waist height, with a compact forward punch in the swing path.
2.2s
BH Volley · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from a central warmup position, filmed from a front warmup angle. Her continental grip is clearly visible on the one-handed backhand volley, with a firm but relaxed wrist that stays stable through contact without excessive wrist snap.
2s
First Serve → BH Volley → BH → OH → FH → FH Volley · Ad · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the Ad side, filmed from the front. Her shoulders stay slightly closed through contact while the trunk makes a compact, forward-driving uncoil that links her upper body rotation directly into the volleying motion.
9.3s
First Serve → FH Volley → BH Volley · Ad · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the Ad court, filmed from the front. After contact she drives her weight forward into the court and quickly brings both hands back toward a compact ready position for the next shot.
5.6s
First Serve → FH Volley · Ad · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the Ad court, filmed from the front. She takes a small adjustment step with her outside (right) foot into a slightly open stance before the volley, then uses a quick recovery step forward to close into the net.
4.3s
First Serve · Ad · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the Ad court, filmed from the front. Her shoulder line rotates significantly away from the net during the toss phase, then her trunk uncoils in a tightly sequenced motion that clearly links hip rotation to shoulder rotation through contact.
2.6s
First Serve → BH Volley Low · Deuce · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce side, filmed from the front. Her shoulders stay relatively closed with a compact trunk rotation, and you can clearly see the upper body uncoil in sync with the forward step as the racquet moves through the volley.
4.5s
First Serve → BH Volley Low · Deuce · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce court, filmed from a front angle. After contact she drives her weight forward into the court, finishing with the racquet head out in front and quickly recoiling into a compact ready position for the next shot.
3.2s
First Serve → BH Volley Low · Deuce · Front #3 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce court, filmed from a front angle. After contact she drives her weight forward into the court and quickly brings the racquet back toward her body, setting her non-hitting hand near the throat of the racquet as she readies for the next shot.
4.7s
First Serve · Deuce · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the Deuce court, filmed from the front. After contact her left arm extends fully into the court with her weight driving forward, and she quickly brings both hands back toward a ready position as she prepares to move for a possible serve-and-volley.
2.3s
First Serve · Deuce · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the deuce court, filmed from the front. Her feet set up in a slightly closed stance with a pronounced knee bend, and you can see a quick front-foot push-off into the court that initiates her serve-and-volley movement forward.
2.8s
First Serve → BH Volley · Ad · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the Ad court, filmed from a rear angle. Her split-step is timed just before the opponent’s contact, leading into a quick crossover step toward the ball and a slightly open stance as she punches through the volley.
4.8s
First Serve → OH · Ad · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the Ad court, filmed from a rear angle. Her left-handed continental grip is clearly visible, with a relaxed wrist that pronates aggressively through contact to drive the serve up and into the court.
5.2s
First Serve · Ad · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the ad court, filmed from a rear angle. Her hips load into a strong coil with clear knee bend before driving upward, and her back leg extends aggressively into the court to initiate forward momentum.
2.8s
First Serve → BH Half Volley · Deuce · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the deuce court, filmed from a rear angle. The rear view makes it easy to see her contact point slightly in front of her body with a steeply upward racket path and a relatively closed racket face as she accelerates through the ball.
5.1s
First Serve → BH Volley · Deuce · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce side, filmed from a rear angle. Her racket face stays slightly open at contact with the ball taken just in front of her body and around waist height, showing a compact forward punch with minimal backswing.
5.2s
First Serve → FH Volley · Deuce · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the deuce court, filmed from a rear angle. Her racket face stays slightly open at contact with the ball struck just in front of her body line, creating a short, compact punch through the volley.
4.6s
First Serve · Deuce · Rear #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the Deuce court, filmed from a rear angle. The racket contacts the ball slightly above head height with a closed racket face, and the swing path accelerates steeply upward through contact to generate strong topspin-slice.
2.9s
First Serve · Deuce · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's first serve from the deuce court, filmed from a rear angle. From this view, her left-handed continental grip is evident with a relatively relaxed wrist that pronates aggressively through contact, creating a distinct wrist snap up and across the ball.
2.2s
FH Volley · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the net, filmed from the front. From this angle you can clearly see her continental grip with a firm but relaxed wrist, staying stable through contact with only a slight forward snap to direct the ball.
1.6s
FH Volley · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the net area, filmed from the front. Her follow-through finishes high with the racquet head in front of her body as she steps through the court, quickly bringing both hands back toward a compact ready position for the next shot.
3.4s
FH Volley · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from a central warmup position, filmed from a front warmup angle. Her shoulders stay relatively square to the net with only a modest trunk turn, and the forward movement of her trunk initiates just before the arm extends through the volley.
1.9s
FH Volley · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from a central warmup position, filmed from a front warmup angle. Her shoulders stay relatively square to the net with only a compact trunk rotation, and the forward uncoiling of the torso clearly precedes the extension of the hitting arm through the volley.
1.9s
BH → OH · Front Martina Navratilova's overhead from the center of the court, filmed from the front. Her racket face is slightly closed at a contact point above head height, with a steep, downward swing path that accelerates the racket head through the ball.
3.1s
OH · Front Martina Navratilova's overhead from the center of the court, filmed from a warmup front angle. Her warmup motion shows a strong knee bend before pushing upward, with the hips driving forward under the ball as she extends to contact.
3.8s
OH · Rear Martina Navratilova's overhead from the center of the court, filmed from a rear angle. After contact she drives her weight forward into the court and quickly resets her feet with the racquet returning to a neutral ready position in front of her body.
4.1s
BH Return 2nd Serve → FH Half Volley → FH Volley · Ad · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley return of a second serve from the ad court, filmed from the front. Her hips stay slightly open toward the net while a strong knee bend and forward leg drive from the right leg help her close in aggressively after contact.
5.8s
FH Return 1st Serve → BH Drop Volley · Ad · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's first serve return from the ad court, filmed from the front. From this angle you can see her continental grip stay firm with a slightly laid-back wrist that stays stable through contact, creating a compact wrist snap only at the very end of the stroke.
4.6s
FH Return 2nd Serve → BH Volley · Ad · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley return of a second serve from the ad court, filmed from a rear angle. Her shoulders stay relatively closed through contact while the trunk rotates as a single unit with minimal independent hip turn, emphasizing a compact upper-body coil and quick uncoil into the ball.
4s
BH Return 2nd Serve → FH Half Volley · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's backhand return of a second serve from a central position, filmed from a rear angle. Her split-step is timed just before contact and she uses a quick lateral adjustment into a neutral stance before driving through the return and taking an immediate recovery step forward.
6.7s
Second Serve → BH Volley Low · Deuce · Front #2 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce court, filmed from the front. Her hips stay relatively square to the net with a noticeable knee bend on the outside leg, giving a stable base as she moves forward into the volley.
5s
Second Serve → BH Volley Low · Deuce · Front #1 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce side, filmed from a front angle. Her split-step into a slightly open stance is followed by a short forward adjustment step, keeping her weight on the front foot as she moves through the volley.
4s
Second Serve → FH Volley → FH Half Volley → FH · Ad · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's forehand volley from the ad side, filmed from a rear angle. Her continental grip is clearly visible with a firm but relaxed wrist, staying stable through contact with only a slight forward wrist extension to guide the volley.
12.6s
Second Serve · Ad · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's second serve from the Ad court, filmed from a rear angle. After contact she drives her weight into the court, letting her tossing arm drop quickly as she lands on her front foot and begins moving forward into a compact ready position.
2.9s
Second Serve → BH Volley · Deuce · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's backhand volley from the deuce court, filmed from a rear angle. Her hips stay relatively closed to the net while a strong knee bend and forward leg drive from her left leg show how she moves through the volley.
4.8s
Second Serve · Deuce · Rear #2 Martina Navratilova's second serve from the deuce court, filmed from a rear angle. The contact point is slightly in front of her body with the racket face tilted marginally up and left, and the upward swing path accelerates the racket head steeply through the ball.
2.9s

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