It was the week Wimbledon announced it would again offer less prize money to the women's singles champion than the men's winner.

It was also the week Martina Navratilova -- a player whose very presence at any tennis event says volumes about a woman's power and resolve -- announced she would play at Wimbledon after a 5½-year hiatus.

No, Navratilova is not playing singles. Still, at 43, she has plenty of capacity to energize the doubles competition.

For some reason, perhaps because of Wimbledon's grand tradition, the excitement of doubles does not seem to get quite as lost at the All England Club as it does at most other tournaments -- and even other Grand Slams.

There figures to be plenty of attention paid to how far Navratilova and doubles partner Mariaan De Swardt can advance in the doubles field.

And that attention, in turn, should spur fans to at least consider the possibility doubles sometimes can be more fun to watch than singles.

It's a tribute to women's tennis that so many talented players and intriguing personalities have emerged among the Top 20 on the Sanex WTA Tour since Navratilova finished her singles career at the end of the 1994 season.

Imagine the interest in the women's game if Navratilova still entered a singles draw once in a while.

A far-fetched notion? Maybe.

But it isn't all that more far-fetched than the picture of Jimmy Connors, age 39, taking over the 1991 U.S. Open and fist-pumping his way to that year's semifinal.

That happened for Connors just when it seemed he was hanging on a bit too long.

Yet Navratilova, who started to make her farewell tour when Martina Hingis was a 13-year-old phenom playing exhibitions and the junior circuit, went out without generating that kind of a perception.

In that final '94 year, she won a tournament -- the Paris Indoors -- and reached the Wimbledon final before losing to Conchita Martinez.

During her career she revolutionized the way strength can be a factor in the women's game. And since retiring from the tour, Navratilova seems no less committed to maintaining top fitness.

So, why not wonder about an occasional appearance in a singles draw?

"In my mind, she is the greatest athlete," De Swardt said as she and Navratilova's spokesperson announced a Navratilova-De Swardt pairing at the Madrid Open later this month and the French Open in June.

"I know that I can still learn a lot from her and I know for sure that she is still playing great tennis," said De Swardt, who played with Navratilova last year in World Team Tennis. "She is in better shape than 70 percent of the women on tour, including myself."

Martina Navratilova hasn't competed in Wimbledon since 1994.(AP)

The Wimbledon appearance will come with a major event looming later in July -- Navratilova's induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.

Before her journey to Newport, Navratilova will eye another milestone when she is at Wimbledon. She is one title short of Billie Jean King's record 20 titles there.

She helped King clinch No. 20, as her doubles partner in 1979 -- the same year Navratilova won her second of nine singles titles there.

Now she will attempt to share a seat on King's perch.

Navratilova doesn't need the exposure. But tennis only gains from her presence, especially when it means people will offer more than the casual glance at doubles.

Unequal opportunity

Organizers at Wimbledon are married to their sense of tradition. That much is apparent in the tournament's refusal to give women the same pay as men.

This year, the men's singles champion will win $754,450. The women's winner will earn $679,400.

Those figures represent an increase of roughly $36,000 for the men's champion and $32,000 for the women's winner.

The U.S. Open remains the only Grand Slam with equal prize money. The overall women's purse this year is 90 percent of the men's purse -- up from 84 percent last year.

All England Club chairman Tim Phillips announced in England last week that paying men and women equal amounts is "pretty unlikely in the foreseeable future."

Naturally, the WTA will continue to press for change.

"As the entertainment value, attendance totals, television ratings and overall interest in women's tennis have soared, the logic behind the equalization of prize money has become increasingly clear," WTA chief executive officer Bart McGuire said.

A beautiful game

Anna Kournikova, step aside. It's always a welcome occasion when charges of sexism can be answered with mention of men's players who are receiving attention for their good looks.

The latest is Jan-Michael Gambill, who made the recently released People magazine list of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World."

Gambill is the No. 2 seed this week at the U.S. Clay Court Championships.

He joins fellow athletes Michelle Kwan (figure skating) and Scott Erickson (baseball) on this year's list.

Last year, Spain's Carlos Moya made the People Top 50. Other ATP players selected were Emilio Sanchez (1992) and MaliVai Washington (1994).