Navratilova undecided over next year

Martina Navratilova insists she does not know yet whether she will try to break Billie-Jean King’s record of 20 Wimbledon titles next year.

Navratilova played two matches yesterday at the age of 46 to equal King’s tally when winning the mixed doubles with her Indian partner Leander Paes.

Navratilova and her partner were winning a semi-final against Leos Friedl (Czech Republic) and South Africa’s Liezel Huber on number one court while Roger Federer was claiming the men’s singles crown against Mark Philippoussis but she later watched his tears of joy on television before going out to play her own final.

Paes and Navratilova beat the partnership of Israel’s Andy Ram and Russian Anastassia Rodionova 6-3 6-3 in 61 minutes to clinch her latest crown which was also her 237th career title.

She saluted an emotional Centre Court crowd and said: “It is always special winning here and all the titles are special too. I feel just as emotional as Roger Federer on Centre Court a few hours ago.”

“I’m going to take away another patch of grass like the one I took away six years ago after my last singles final here nine years ago. I’ll be back at Wimbledon next year but I don’t know yet whether I’ll be playing.”

Navratilova, whose Wimbledon debut came 30 years ago, lost that 1994 final to Spain’s Conchita Martinez, but she won nine other singles finals at the All-England Club plus seven in women’s doubles and now four in the mixed.

Having lost out with Russian partner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women’s doubles on Friday after her 300th Wimbledon match, equalling King’s record looked a tough task in the same half of the draw as specialists Todd Woodbridge and Kuznetsova plus number two seeds Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond.

But Navratilova and Paes beat the American pair in straight sets on Friday to reach the semi-finals while Friedl and Huber surprisingly beat Aussie Woodbridge and his Russian partner in straight sets.

Friedl and Huber were no match for the Martina team, though, going down 7-5 6-4. And after barely two hours rest, Paes and Navratilova were back on court again to claim their title which was also the 37th of the Indian player’s career.

Venus Williams faces a major dilemma over how long to devote to her recovery from the injuries which wrecked her Wimbledon dream.

The 23-year-old former champion, who remains determined to regain supremacy over sister Serena, has lost her last six meetings with her 21-year-old sibling following Saturday’s 4-6 6-4 6-2 defeat on Centre Court.

But Venus is desperate to launch another bid for the world number one spot, beginning at the US Open next month.

Despite beating number two Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, in the semi-final at Wimbledon, she is unlikely to climb higher than her current fourth spot when the new rankings list comes out today as she did not progress beyond her last year’s mark of beaten finalist in SW19.

Some critics even suggest she will never beat her younger sibling again but Venus goes back home with her family to Florida after saying: “I still want to be the best player I can be.

“I’ve been at the top of the tennis rankings and still feel that I’m at the top, doing well but I need to get healthy.

“A lot of times it is easier on the day you injure yourself to keep playing, considering that it can be tougher to recover than to play on.

“But I knew what I was in for (at Wimbledon) and I don’t know if I proved anything to myself. I guess I’d better think about it.”

Clijsters went some way towards making up for missing out on the women’s singles title by claiming the doubles in the company of Japan’s Ai Sugiyama.

The Belgian was watched by boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt, the men’s 2002 singles champion, as she and Sugiyama defeated top seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court.