Sydney, Jan 08: Nine times Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova lost her first doubles match in Australia in 22 years at the Sydney international today.
The former world number one's unbeaten streak came to an end when she and Alexandra Stevenson were beaten 6-3 6-2 by Evie Dominikovic and Myriam Casanova.
She retired from tennis in 1994 but made a comeback in 2000, playing doubles only, and returned to Australia for the first time this year.
Navratilova, 46, teamed up with Svetlana Kznetsova to win last week's Australian women's hardcourt title, making her the oldest player ever to win a tournament, singles or doubles, on tour.
She had planned to fly but said she had been forced to hit the road after airline officials told her she could not carry her new pet dog on board.


''They don't allow pets in the cabin in this country for some unknown god-awful reason, you have to check them in as cargo,'' she said. ''I can't take him with me on the plane, which you can do around the whole world, but not in Australia or New Zealand, apparently.''

Bureau Report