'Who am I to argue?' Martina Navratilova names greatest player in women's tennis history

Former world No. 1 Martina Navratilova believes that she is the "greatest" player ever in the history of women’s tennis. The 68-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest to have played the game. She stayed world No. 1 in singles for 332 weeks.

Navratilova won 167 titles in her career, which is the most by any player. She lifted 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam doubles titles and 10 Grand Slam titles in the mixed doubles category. Other than that, she also lifted the WTA Tour Finals 13 times in her illustrious career.

Navratilova spoke to Tennis Channel 16 years ago but has been recently quoted in a report by The Tennis Gazette, where she called herself the greatest player in women’s tennis ahead of the likes of former world No. 1 Steffi Graf. Navratilova was of the opinion that at her best, she was capable of beating anyone. She also stated that it's hard to compare players from different eras, as things have changed over the years.

“Am I the greatest player that ever played the game?” she asked. “It would be hard to say no. I feel like at my best I was better than anybody else that I played against because my game was more complete, I prepared better than anybody, I knew what to do, and I had the ability to do it, I was as fast as anybody, as strong as anybody and I had more shots, and I was a better athlete than everybody. 

"Overall, the body of work speaks for itself, the records, a lot of them happened because I played for a long time, but the quality as well as the quantity, the combination. The Grand Slams, yes, Steffi Graf won more Grand Slams, but in my day, the Grand Slams were not as important. You know, Steffi Graf says I was the greatest to ever play the game, so who am I to argue, right?”