Upset cuts short Navratilova’s 74- game win streak

On this day 33 years ago, a Czech teenager, Helena Sukova, ended World No. 1 Martina Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak during the semifinal round of the $1.28 million Australian Open at the Melbourne suburban Kooyong.

The ninth-seed Sukova, daughter of the former Wimbledon finalist Vera Sukova, subdued Navratilova in a three-set upset, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, on December 6, 1984 that not only broke the longest consecutive victory run on the world’s women circuit history, but, likewise, denied Martina’s bid to end the year with 100th championship expecting victories at Wimbledon, French, the U.S. and Australian Opens.