At the same time Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were working
their way toward the final of the year's first Grand Slam tournament
Down Under, Martina Navratilova was checking on her 28 cows and one
pig down on the farm.

"We started with 25 cows and now we have 28," she said about the
livestock on the ranch she owns out near Old Miakka. "We are going
to have to do something about that bull next door."

Don't worry. Martina has not gone completely Green Acres on us since
her retirement from the game at the end of this past U.S. Open. The
ranch is just one of many projects she has on her plate.

She has been busy promoting her fitness book called "Shape Your
Self." She is planning a series of exhibition matches with Monica
Seles, who also lives in Sarasota. She might have some interest in
coaching and definitely has plans to spend some time in the
broadcast booth, starting with the French Open in May and continuing
through Wimbledon.

Like any tennis fan, Navratilova kept up with the Australian Open
but she says she has no misgivings about not playing in the first
major tournament since her retirement.

Besides, how could Navratilova top the way she left the game, by
winning one last Grand Slam title in her final match. After missing
an opportunity at Wimbledon this past summer, a place where she had
had so much success, Navratilova won at the U.S. Open, a place she
found more difficult.

"It was poetic justice because, at Wimbledon, I thought I was going
to win there," said Navratilova, who would have won her 21st title
there to break a tie with Billie Jean King.

"Then I won (the U.S. Open mixed) and it was like, 'OK. This is the
way it was supposed to finish.' It put a nice exclamation point on
my career."