Just got got back from having some terrific Cuban food in Miami and during dinner with 10 other gay men, Martina Navratilova's name came up. Off I went. I proceeded to hold court for several minutes, prattling on about how remarkable Martina is for playing pro tennis over four decades as an out lesbian after fleeing then-communist Czech Republic. I threw in some of her amazing stats then started to fondly recall some of my favorite victories of hers. "Oh, the 1986 US Open semifinal between Martina and Steffi Graf was riveting!" This is when I began to notice some eyes glazing over. WhatEVER! They were more interested in hearing about Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick and, of course, Rafael Nadal. But hey, I hope I educated some folks about not only a great champion, but a great hero of the gay rights movement.

Anyway, between dinner and a nightcap, raced up to my hotel room and flipped on the lap top to check the U.S. Open results! And boy, was I happy to see that Martina, who won her first grand slam doubles title more than 30 years ago, had won the mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan. She is 49, soon to be 50, and playing the last pro tournament of her unprecedented career.

"See, if you play long enough, good things happen," she told the fans. "I should know."

The magnificant Martina teamed with Bryan to beat Kueta Peschke and Martin Damm 6-2, 6-3 before an appreciative crowd following the women's singles final in which Maria Sharapova beat Justine Henin-Hardine 6-4 6-4. Navratilova won four US singles titles in her career and nine singles titles at Wimbldedon. But when she came out of retirement in 2000 after five years away from the pro tour, Martina concentrated on doubles. She won several titles over the past six seasons including the 2002 Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed titles and made it to the US Open women's doubles final in 2003. Although she and women's doubles partner Nadia Petrova lost in the quarterfinals to the top seeds this year at Flushing Meadows, they did win the Canadian Open title together just last month. In all, Martina won 178 doubles titles and 167 singles championships for a total of 345 times in the winners circle.

"It's been quite a run," Martina said Saturday night after winning her 59th grand slam title in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. “It’s just nice to go with a win. I knew I was going to play great tonight.�
Martina thinks she could’ve played another five years at a top level: “I’m quitting because I want to, not because I have to.�

Here is an "Out in Hollywood" standing ovation for Martina Navratilova!!!