Martina Navratilova officially retired from professional tennis at the US Open in 2006.
Navratilova had already retired from singles at 47 years old, but was still competing on the doubles circuit two years later.
Having announced that she would retire from all competitive tennis in 2006, Navratilova was hoping to put her Wimbledon disappointment behind her at the US Open.
Navratilova had not won a Grand Slam title since 2003, but found herself just one win away in the mixed doubles event at the US Open.
What Martina Navratilova said was weird about her retirement match
In her final ever tennis tournament at the US Open, Navratilova had already lost in the women’s doubles quarterfinals with Nadia Petrova.
This meant that all her focus was on the mixed doubles event, where she had last won the title in 1987, and was playing with her compatriot Bob Bryan this time around.
Bryan would have been just nine years old when Navratilova last won the US Open mixed doubles title, and he was now one win away from helping her win the last of her decorated career.
Navratilova and Bryan did just that, beating the Czech pairing of Kveta Peschke and Martin Damm, 6-2 6-3, to win their home Grand Slam title together.
It was a euphoric season for the pair, and a fitting way for Navratilova to go out after winning a record 59 Grand Slam titles across singles and doubles.
While there may have been some understandable nerves for Navratilova ahead of the match given what was on the line, the then 49-year-old admitted in her post-match press conference that she felt very calm, something even she claimed was ‘weird’.
“I knew this was my last match and I was, like I said, as relaxed and calm,” explained Navratilova. “I’m like I’m almost too calm, I have to get fired up, because I was just so happy about where I was, exactly. I mean, I’m quitting because I want to, not because I need to or because I have to. I want to.
“Tennis is such a great life. It has given me such a great life, but I’m ready sort of to move on. I still will stay in tennis and refocus my efforts elsewhere, but, uhm, I was just ready to go.
“I knew I was gonna play great tonight. There was no doubt about it. I was like I was as relaxed as I’ve ever been before a match. It was really weird, actually.”
What Martina Navratilova wanted to see more of in tennis after retiring
While she was no longer going to be competing any longer, Navratilova was certainly not ready to step away from tennis completely.
After retiring, Navratilova had concerns about the focus on baseline game styles and the potential erasure of serve and volleying, something that was a huge part of tennis in her prime years.
Following her US Open mixed doubles victory, Navratilova made a request for more players to serve and volley and suggested that there were four big names keeping it alive, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“It would be great to see more serve and volleying out there,” claimed Navratilova. “But, again, it’s more difficult with the racquets, the way they’re set up, to be successful at it. But it can still be done.
“So just to see more all around game; see people chip and charge once in a while, or take the first serve, smack it and come in. Just a little more variety. You see it, you see glimpses of it with Justine Henin, with Mauresmo, with, of course, Federer. And even Nadal is getting more adventurous coming to the net, and, you know, being more creative.
“It’s nice to see that because it’s there are some unbelievable hitters of the ball, but they’re not complete tennis players. It would be fun to see more complete tennis. Hope that will be my legacy. Thank you.”
Unfortunately for Navratilova, serve and volleying is less frequent in 2025 and is even a rare sight at Wimbledon where the grass courts previously suited that game style.
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