Martina Navratilova, one of tennis's greatest players with a record nine ladies' singles titles at Wimbledon, will return to SW19 as a BBC pundit this week. The 69-year-old is joined on the panel by John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Andre Agassi, and Pat Cash. Away from the court, Navratilova has a remarkable love story with her wife, former model Julia Lemigova, who is 16 years her junior.
Julia Lemigova's Background and Career
Born in Moscow to a former Red Army colonel, Lemigova was crowned Miss USSR in 1990 and finished runner-up at Miss Universe in 1991. Before meeting Navratilova, she had a daughter with French banker Edouard Stern, who was murdered by his mistress in 2005, and another daughter from a previous relationship. Lemigova gained fame as a star of The Real Housewives of Miami, making history as the first housewife in the franchise to be married to a woman.
Their Love Story and Marriage
Navratilova and Lemigova first met in a Paris gay bar in 2000. Recalling the encounter on Married to a Celebrity: The Survival Guide, Navratilova said: "I was at a club with some friends... there's this gorgeous woman standing at the bar and she's like...looking at me. I gave this Russian look to her. Really, it was more like, 'Okay, you are coming to talk to me now.'" They reconnected eight years later during the French Open and married in New York in 2014 after Navratilova proposed live on television at the US Open.
Cancer Battle and Adoption
In early 2023, Navratilova was diagnosed with stage 1 throat and breast cancer. The couple put adoption plans on hold. Lemigova explained: "When you're adopting a child, it has to be about the child. And, right now, it's everything about Martina, and for her getting healthy, so we are putting it on hold." Navratilova announced she was cancer-free later that year, and in August 2024, the couple adopted two young boys.
Life as a Family
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2025, Lemigova described Navratilova's bond with the boys: "There's a difference between girls and boys. She's now with the boys, playing sports with them, teaching tennis, teaching baseball, teaching basketball. She's having such a blast. She's becoming like a kid herself, I feel, like 20 years younger. It's a completely different Martina that I'm seeing."
