WTA · Left-handed · 33 charted matches · 1981–1994
Martina Navratilova
Archetype: Serve-and-volleyer · Net rusher
Against an average opponent
Serve and return points won, refitted against every opponent at once so a record built on weak or strong opposition is put on the same scale. Career, all surfaces, with a 90% margin. Raw is the plain share of points won.
Value per 100 shots
Points gained per 100 shots compared with an average tour player in the same position, adjusted for the strength of the opponents faced, with a 90% margin (shots clustered by match). Raw is before the opponent adjustment. Built on 13,091 shots.
Shot expected value
The share of points Martina Navratilova goes on to win after each option in the positions they face most often, shrunk toward tour average when the sample is small. Showing the 8 most-used options; teal marks the best one with at least 30 shots.
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side
position worth 45% to the average player · 616 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH slice crosscourt | 32% | 35.5%±5.3 | 40.4% |
| BH slice through the middle | 21% | 32.4%±6.3 | 34.4% |
| BH slice down the line | 13% | 35.3%±7.9 | 31.7% |
| BH crosscourt | 10% | 38.6%±9.0 | 47.6% |
| BH through the middle | 7% | 42.1%±10.4 | 43.3% |
| BH slice down the line + approach | 5% | 44.6%±11.3 | 41.1% |
| BH slice through the middle + approach | 3% | 45.4%±12.8 | 43.1% |
| BH slice crosscourt + approach | 3% | 48.7%±13.7 | 52.7% |
Return +1: drive to your backhand side
position worth 44% to the average player · 441 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH slice crosscourt | 34% | 36.0%±6.0 | 39.6% |
| BH slice through the middle | 27% | 35.2%±6.6 | 33.2% |
| BH slice down the line | 12% | 31.7%±8.8 | 28.7% |
| BH crosscourt | 10% | 44.6%±10.2 | 47.8% |
| BH slice down the line + approach | 5% | 49.5%±12.7 | 49.0% |
| BH through the middle | 4% | 39.5%±13.2 | 43.0% |
| BH slice through the middle + approach | 3% | 49.0%±14.3 | 50.9% |
| BH down the line | 3% | 47.6%±14.5 | 46.2% |
Long rally, 9+: drive to your backhand side
position worth 44% to the average player · 414 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH slice crosscourt | 28% | 44.2%±7.0 | 38.7% |
| BH slice through the middle | 20% | 45.9%±8.0 | 33.4% |
| BH slice down the line | 18% | 47.7%±8.4 | 34.0% |
| BH crosscourt | 9% | 56.9%±10.6 | 47.9% |
| BH through the middle | 9% | 47.4%±11.0 | 42.7% |
| BH slice down the line + approach | 6% | 42.9%±12.1 | 51.6% |
| BH drop shot crosscourt | 5% | 59.4%±12.8 | 48.7% |
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side
position worth 43% to the average player · 378 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| FH crosscourt | 68% | 47.4%±5.0 | 46.7% |
| FH through the middle | 13% | 33.7%±9.4 | 41.3% |
| FH down the line | 9% | 34.5%±10.5 | 44.9% |
| FH down the line + approach | 3% | 69.9%±13.1 | 65.4% |
| FH crosscourt + approach | 3% | 56.0%±14.9 | 63.9% |
Serve under pressure
Pressure predictability index +1 How much less varied Martina Navratilova's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 307 break-point first serves.
Deuce court
| 1st serve | Usage | Break pt | Won when in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 37% | 54% ▲ | 65% / 66% |
| Body | 16% | 6% ▼ | 61% / 57% |
| T | 48% | 40% | 66% / 68% |
1,291 normal · 84 break-point 1st serves
Ad court
| 1st serve | Usage | Break pt | Won when in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 60% | 52% ▼ | 64% / 66% |
| Body | 12% | 12% | 58% / 56% |
| T | 28% | 36% ▲ | 67% / 64% |
1,040 normal · 223 break-point 1st serves
Is the serve mix in equilibrium?
Game theory says a well-mixed server wins equally often with every direction they use. If one direction wins more, it's underused and points are being left behind. This is the minimax test Walker and Wooders ran on Wimbledon finals, applied to every charted first serve. Win rates include faults. "Optimal" allows for returners reading a habit. A direction loses 0.19 points per 100 serves for every 10 points of habitual usage, measured from WTA servers whose mix drifted between matches. Shifts stay within the range servers' habits actually vary, the only range that response was measured over.
Deuce court
| 1st serve | Usage | Points won | Optimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 38% | 54.3%±3.5 n=519 | 23% ▼ |
| Body | 15% | 57.8%±5.3 n=208 | 15% |
| T | 47% | 58.8%±3.1 n=648 | 62% ▲ |
Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.24).
Optimal mix: +0.5 per 100 first serves.
Ad court
| 1st serve | Usage | Points won | Optimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 59% | 58.3%±2.9 n=743 | 57% ▼ |
| Body | 12% | 55.5%±6.1 n=148 | 0% ▼ |
| T | 29% | 58.2%±4.0 n=372 | 43% ▲ |
Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.72).
Optimal mix: +0.6 per 100 first serves.
Exploitability 0.50 points per 100 first serves What the optimal mix would win over the current one, both courts. More exploitable than 100% of WTA servers. Tested on matches they weren't fitted on, WTA mixes picked this way win 0.42 per 100 first serves on average.
Repeating the previous direction to the same court: −1.2±3.6 points per 100 against switching. Negative means returners read repeats. Tour-wide, repeating costs women about 0.4 points per 100 and costs men nothing, so men's returners don't measurably anticipate direction. (1,031 repeats, 1,541 switches.)
Return by serve direction
Return points won against each serve direction, compared with the tour average.
| Serve | Court | Direction | Points | Won | vs tour | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ad court | Body | 199 | 38% | −6.3±5.3 | |
| 1st | Ad court | T | 366 | 33% | −2.5±3.9 | |
| 1st | Ad court | Wide | 310 | 43% | +8.3±4.4 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | Body | 151 | 42% | −0.2±6.0 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | T | 177 | 33% | +0.5±5.4 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | Wide | 662 | 39% | +4.6±3.0 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | Body | 125 | 47% | −8.3±6.6 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | T | 109 | 57% | +2.2±6.9 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | Wide | 179 | 44% | −9.5±5.6 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | Body | 107 | 50% | −4.6±7.0 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | T | 51 | 57% | +0.5±9.1 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | Wide | 240 | 56% | +1.8±5.0 |
Signature patterns
Recurring sequences that win more than Martina Navratilova's own baseline, ranked by edge weighted by how often they're used.
Serve → +1
- T serve (deuce court) → BH volley down the line used 3.3% · won 69% · +7.2±7.4 vs own baseline
- Wide serve (ad court) → BH volley crosscourt used 5.4% · won 67% · +5.2±6.2 vs own baseline
- Wide serve (deuce court) → BH volley down the line used 2.0% · won 62% · +0.4±9.2 vs own baseline
- Wide serve (ad court) → FH volley down the line used 2.3% · won 59% · −2.4±8.9 vs own baseline
- T serve (deuce court) → FH volley crosscourt used 3.5% · won 59% · −2.8±7.7 vs own baseline
Return
- vs wide serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt, mid used 5.9% · won 56% · +14.8±6.9 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt, short used 2.3% · won 58% · +16.2±9.7 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (deuce court) → BH slice through the middle, mid used 10.6% · won 48% · +6.8±5.4 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (deuce court) → BH slice crosscourt, short used 2.9% · won 49% · +7.1±9.2 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (deuce court) → BH slice through the middle, short used 2.1% · won 46% · +4.6±10.1 vs own baseline
Rally, consecutive own shots
- BH slice down the line → FH crosscourt used 4.8% · won 49% · +5.7±7.5 vs own baseline
- FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt + approach used 2.2% · won 51% · +7.3±9.9 vs own baseline
- FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 7.4% · won 46% · +2.2±6.2 vs own baseline
- BH through the middle → BH crosscourt used 1.3% · won 47% · +3.8±11.3 vs own baseline
- BH crosscourt → BH slice through the middle used 1.3% · won 47% · +3.8±11.3 vs own baseline
Discovered sequences
Mined from every me → opponent → me run of three shots, with no templates. Ranked by how much more often Martina Navratilova wins the point once the sequence happens, weighted by how often it happens. Think of them as chess openings.
- BH slice down the line → BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 2.5% · won 47% · +4.8±8.6 vs own baseline · +4.0 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Chris Evert (31/63)
- BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → BH slice through the middle used 0.7% · won 51% · +9.0±12.7 vs own baseline · +26.5 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Chris Evert (9/14)
- T serve → BH slice through the middle return, short → FH volley crosscourt used 1.0% · won 49% · +6.7±11.6 vs own baseline · −7.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Steffi Graf (10/17)
- Wide serve → FH through the middle return, mid → BH volley crosscourt used 0.6% · won 50% · +7.8±12.9 vs own baseline · +5.4 vs tour on the same sequence
- FH crosscourt → BH through the middle → BH slice crosscourt used 0.6% · won 49% · +6.6±13.0 vs own baseline · +13.5 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Chris Evert (9/15)
- FH crosscourt → BH slice crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 1.3% · won 47% · +4.3±10.7 vs own baseline · −4.3 vs tour on the same sequence
Strengths and vulnerabilities
Value per 100 shots compared with the average player hitting (strengths) or facing (vulnerabilities) the same shot. Only shot types seen at least 120 times.
Hurts opponents most with
| BH slice to their forehand · return | +11.2 | 293 |
| BH slice to the middle · return | +7.0 | 661 |
| BH slice to their forehand · return +1 | +6.6 | 195 |
| BH slice to their forehand · rally | +5.9 | 446 |
| BH slice to their backhand · return | +5.1 | 268 |
Most exposed to
| BH slice to their forehand · return | −10.2 | 165 |
| BH slice to their backhand · return | −7.1 | 206 |
| BH slice to their forehand · rally | −6.1 | 136 |
| BH to their forehand · return | −5.3 | 143 |
| BH to their backhand · return +1 | −3.9 | 141 |
Tactical fingerprint
Each bar shows how far a style trait is from the WTA average, in standard deviations.
| Serve & volley | 72% | |
| Points at net | 44% | |
| Backhand slice | 76% | |
| Chipped returns | 50% | |
| Wide serves · ad | 59% | |
| T serves · deuce | 47% | |
| 1st serve in | 65% | |
| Point-ending shots | 26.3% | |
| Drop shots / shot | 1.3% | |
| BH down the line | 19% | |
| Avg rally length | 4.0 | |
| Wide serves · deuce | 38% | |
| Run-around forehands | 3% | |
| T serves · ad | 29% | |
| Unforced errors / shot | 8.1% | |
| Through the middle | 21% | |
| FH down the line | 21% | |
| Forehand share | 44% | |
| Deep returns | 17% |
Plays most like
- Jana Novotna 1991–1999 plan v
- Kirsten Flipkens 2013–2022 plan v
- Taylor Townsend 2015–2026 plan v
- Amelie Mauresmo 1999–2009 plan v
- Gabriela Sabatini 1988–1995 plan v
- Barbora Strycova 2014–2023 plan v
- Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 1988–2001 plan v
- Roberta Vinci 2012–2017 plan v
Closest from another era
- Kirsten Flipkens 2013–2022
- Taylor Townsend 2015–2026
- Amelie Mauresmo 1999–2009
Charted matches
- Conchita Martinez v Martina Navratilova L Wimbledon F · Grass · 2 Jul 1994
- Martina Navratilova v Jana Novotna L Wimbledon SF · Grass · 2 Jul 1993
- Monica Seles v Martina Navratilova L Tour Championships F · Hard · 16 Nov 1992
- Steffi Graf v Martina Navratilova L Zurich F · Hard · 11 Oct 1992
- Martina Navratilova v Monica Seles L Virginia Slims Championships F · Hard · 24 Nov 1991
- Monica Seles v Martina Navratilova L US Open F · Hard · 8 Sep 1991
- Monica Seles v Martina Navratilova L Manhattan Beach F · Hard · 19 Aug 1990
- Zina Garrison v Martina Navratilova W Wimbledon F · Grass · 7 Jul 1990
- Jennifer Capriati v Martina Navratilova W Hilton Head F · Clay · 8 Apr 1990
- Martina Navratilova v Steffi Graf L US Open F · Hard · 9 Sep 1989
- Martina Navratilova v Steffi Graf L Wimbledon F · Grass · 8 Jul 1989
- Martina Navratilova v Helena Sukova L Australian Open QF · Hard · 26 Jan 1989