Victorious in doubles too: Tennis great Martina Navratilova proposes to girlfriend

New York: Tennis great Martina Navratilova proposed to her girlfriend on the big screen of Arthur Ashe Stadium between the US Open men's semi-finals on Saturday.

Navratilova popped the question to Julia Lemigova in the Tennis Channel suite, drawing a loud cheer from the crowd. "I was very nervous."

Navratilova said later, "It came off. She said yes. It was kind of an out-of-body experience. You've seen people propose at sporting events before, in movies, in real life. Here it was happening to me. It was like I was watching myself do it."

57-year-old Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, a mark she shares with Chris Evert. Serena Williams will try to match it in Sunday's women's final.

Navratilova said somebody suggested she propose during a changeover in the first match between Kei Nishikori and Novak Djokovic, but she didn't want to disturb the players in any way.

The only problem was that Navratilova was later scheduled to play a Champions doubles match with Jana Novotna against Tracy Austin and Gigi Fernandez. She tried unsuccessfully to get the start postponed without telling anybody why, so she was fretting that the Nishikori-Djokovic match would go five sets. Fortunately, it ended in four.

After the triumph in her personal life, Navratilova was also victorious in doubles.