No End in Sight : Martina Says She Is Getting Better With Age and Still Enjoys Playing

What makes Martina run? And volley? And, for that matter, what makes Martina keep on playing tennis when she’s older than the grass at Wimbledon?

Make no mistake about it, Martina Navratilova has been around long enough to be declared a historical landmark and have a gold plaque nailed to her racket cover.

After 1,386 victories, 194 defeats, 326 singles and doubles titles, Navratilova’s career is dominated by some big numbers.

Here are a few more: Navratilova, who is six weeks short of her 37th birthday, played her first match at Wimbledon five months before Monica Seles was born.

But when will Navratilova play her last match at Wimbledon?

When she had a conference call with reporters recently, the first question was when she was going to retire.

“Tomorrow,� Navratilova said, and everyone laughed.

Actually, it’s sort of an inside joke. Navratilova has been accusing reporters of trying to retire her for about 10 years. The whole thing has become something of a parlor game--put Martina in the rocker.

As for the subject herself, Navratilova said she feels like playing until she is 40--sort of.

“Just because I’ve been doing it for 20 years doesn’t mean I should stop,� Navratilova said.

And at the same time, she hints that the end might be in sight.

“I haven’t made my mind up 100% about playing next year, but I think I’ll play,� she said. “It’s not cast in stone.

“I remember saying I would play until I was 30, and that was six years ago. Billie Jean King told me: ‘You could play until you are 40 if you want to.’ I said ‘Are you nuts?’

“I think physically I could hang in there. I don’t know. I mean, I should stop playing games, I’m too old for tennis, only because it’s a number and not because of how I feel.

“For the most part, I feel pretty good, but I don’t know what you’re supposed to feel like at 36.

“When I retire, it may end up being (because of) something physical. I hope not. Or maybe I’ll just quit on the spot. Or maybe I’ll play Wimbledon in 1994 and the U.S. Open in 1994. I honestly don’t know.�

There are at least two reasons why Navratilova should keep playing:

--She is good at it. Even at 36, Navratilova is 27-4 and still ranked No. 4. She made the semifinals at Wimbledon.

--She makes a very good living at it. So far this year, Navratilova has earned $533,044. She has earned $18.9 million in her career.

As Navratilova explained it, she still enjoys playing tennis. This week, she will defend her title at the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles at Manhattan Country Club, one of her record 164 tournament victories.

She is seeded second behind Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the No. 3-ranked player in the world, a position Navratilova believes to be her own despite the presence of Sanchez Vicario.

“Ah, well, I mean I’m the third best player in the world, I feel,� Navratilova said. “I know that Arantxa is ranked ahead of me, but I feel I’m a better player than she is.�

She will get a chance to find out if they meet in the final.

There probably will be more finals in Navratilova’s future until she decides she has had enough. There will be some warning signs; she is going to figure out that her life off the court is more important, she doesn’t want to work at tennis and she won’t put up with being inconsistent.

According to Chris Evert, who experienced them all, this is what eventually will happen to Navratilova, too.

“I think you have to have something to go to,� Evert said. “It was an easy decision for me because I had something. I think what’s happening with her, she is going through that thought process now, ‘What can I do?’

“We’ve talked about it. There came a point when I woke up in the morning and couldn’t bear working out. She said she didn’t feel that way.

“Also, you have to accept more flat days. You can play well, but not consistently. I didn’t like that feeling, either.

“I think Martina can play one more year of singles--she could play doubles until she’s 50--because she doesn’t have to train as hard. I saw at Wimbledon that she was a step slower, her reflexes a bit slower. It’s natural.�

The way Navratilova looks at it, she is getting better at the same time she gets older. Her backhand volley and her second serve are both improved this year, she said.

“Technically, I have never been better, but you know the body is just not responding the way it used to.

“It’s much more of an effort to just run down balls. You really have to will your body to do it instead of it doing it for you.

“But the motivation is, I guess I can still play good tennis and show people what I think the game ought to be played like.�