Martina Navratilova was back at the All England Club earlier this month, trying to match Billie Jean King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles. If she had won with Mariaan de Swardt or Mahesh Bhupathi in mixed doubles, she would have equaled King's mark. Most people didn't know it, but Navratilova was actually staying at King's rented home while she was trying to match her good friend.

	Navratilova won her first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1978.

Which made the criticism that she was a record-hungry mercenary all the more difficult to take.

"People can think what they want," Navratilova said Wednesday via a conference call. "They probably think that because that's what they would do. I don't pay any attention to what people think, otherwise I would have stayed in Czechoslovakia 25 years ago.

"I do what I feel is right. I follow my heart, and my heart said, 'Play tennis this year.' So I decided to play."

Navratilova, who has always followed her heart and had the ability and the fortitude to back it up, will be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday in Newport, R.I.

Navratilova made news last week, reaching the quarterfinals of the women's doubles at Wimbledon after a four-year absence. She and de Swardt jumped on Venus and Serena Williams, winning the first set 6-4 before reality and younger legs intervened. The Williams sisters, whose combined ages (38) are still five years shy of Navratilova's 43 years, won the last two sets 6-2 and 6-1 and, eventually, the doubles championship.

It was telling that both Serena and Venus nicked Navratilova with rocket volleys. Afterward, however, they both said they were impressed with Navratilova's game.

"Her hands were quick as ever, probably quicker than Serena and I," Venus said with a trace of amazement. "She really watches the ball."

		I spoke to Martina Navratilova about her upcoming Hall of Fame induction while I was in England for Wimbledon. Martina's really excited about it. Her mom -- along with a group of friends and supporters -- will be attending the ceremony. As her longtime doubles partner, I'll be there, too, and look forward to a fabulous weekend. Martina really took pride in being a complete tennis player, excelling in singles and doubles, and I believe she is the No. 1 women's tennis player of all time. No one will ever come close to equaling her numbers -- 167 singles titles and 165 doubles titles -- because so many of today's top singles players don't compete as often in doubles competition. In singles, Steffi Graf comes the closest to Martina. Some people think Graf's singles record is better than Martina's. But for 19 consecutive years (1975-1993), Martina was ranked among the top four singles players in the world. She was ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 for 10 of those years. To maintain a top-five ranking for nearly 20 years is incredible to imagine. She stayed healthy, fit and determined, all the things you would expect from a super champion. In her return to both Wimbledon and the French Open, Martina played good, quality tennis, reminding people of how great she was. Over the past two months, she showed everybody how good she still is. To see the Williams sisters on the same court with Martina at the All England Club was absolutely terrific. I hope Venus and Serena gave some thought to how great Martina has been and how fantastic she still is. She keeps herself in great shape and still loves the sport. I think Martina might play the U.S. Open and then continue playing team tennis. Beyond that, I don't know, but I hope she would be tempted to find a partner with whom she could win a major doubles title. That would be one of the great stories. I think she could do it. I just don't think Mariaan De Swardt is the one.

Ah, kids today. At last count, the Williams sisters had combined for a total of nine Grand Slam titles (Venus' breakthrough Wimbledon crown, Serena's 1999 U.S. Open, plus three doubles and four mixed doubles crowns), remarkable considering their tender years. And yet, Navratilova won 56 Grand Slam titles all by herself -- and the bulk of them came relatively late, after the age of 24.

Navratilova won nine singles championships at Wimbledon -- two more than Pete Sampras, who won this year and set a male record for Grand Slam singles with 13. Sampras, who has invested nearly all of his energy into singles play, does not have any Grand Slam doubles or mixed doubles title. Still, he is considered among the best handful of players ever, along with Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Bill Tilden and Roy Emerson.

The consensus is that Navratilova is the greatest women's tennis player ever. Some (this correspondent included) would remove the gender reference from that epitaph. The numbers are, frankly, staggering.

Navratilova won: