Martina given wild card

Martina Navratilova, one of the all-time greats of women's tennis, has been given a doubles wild card to play in the Hastings Direct Championships at Eastbourne next month.

The nine-times Wimbledon champion is also in discussions with tournament officials about a wild card entry into the singles event.

"It's great news that she's coming to play at Eastbourne and we'd love her to play singles," said John Feaver, joint directer of the tournament. "Martina is working out her playing plans for the summer and we hope to be able to confirm the situation before the end of the French Open."

Kim Clijsters, Jelena Dokic and reigning champion Chanda Rubin have already entered. Navratilova has won the singles title 11 times.

Meanwhile, former champion Albert Costa could miss next week's French Open at Roland Garros after limping out of the ATP World Team Cup in Duesseldorf.

The Spaniard, who won the grand slam title in 2002, picked up a mystery injury to his left leg against Chile's Nicolas Massu in the team tournament and conceded at 4-1 down in the first set.

'I'm not sure exactly what the problem is," said Costa, who lost to compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero at the semi-final stage in Paris last year. "We will wait and see how it progresses.'

Clay court specialist Costa, 28, beat world No1 Roger Federer on his way to the semifinals of the Rome ATP event in March.