0:00:02 > 0:00:07Martina Navratilova - possibly the greatest tennis player of all time -
0:00:07 > 0:00:09is turning 60 this year.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Together, we revisited her hometown.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Growing up in a communist country, you, kind of, did whatever it took.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Her earliest years are from an era that no longer exists.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25No! That was right on the chalk! Come on!
0:00:25 > 0:00:27In her youth, she was feisty.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32You know, I want to play when I want and where I want.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Defecting to America - within four years, the world's best.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43She transformed herself and there was a time no-one could beat her.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Game, set and match, Miss Navratilova.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48- DAN MASKELL: - And the dream has come true.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50A pioneer, an activist, an icon,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54but perhaps she has the best way of describing herself.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07December 2014, New York City.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10In a life of many fresh starts,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12this is another.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14SHE SIGHS
0:01:14 > 0:01:15The calm before the storm.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Mary's got the rings, right?
0:01:18 > 0:01:19- I have them.- Holy shit.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23# They're writing songs of love... #
0:01:23 > 0:01:25She's a serve-volleyer, man.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27She just serve-volleys. She knows herself.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29She's like, "Go get 'em!
0:01:29 > 0:01:30"Don't worry about the consequences.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32"Worry about that later."
0:01:32 > 0:01:34She's very well read.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36She has an incredible memory.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38She's good at maths, she's good at languages.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41She's good at just about anything.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44It reflects in her social media - what she tweets out, what she reads,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47who she advocates for.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49She's getting married and I'm single.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Go figure.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53SHE LAUGHS
0:01:53 > 0:01:55This is a friend of mine, Karen.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Jeannie Ash. Jeannie, have you met the Mayor?
0:01:57 > 0:01:58You must have met.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00At the age of 59,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Miss Navratilova is about to become Mrs Navratilova.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06It's her wedding day.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09She's marrying Julia Lemigova -
0:02:09 > 0:02:12a businesswoman, a former Miss USSR,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14a worried Julia.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16I start thinking in three languages and it's...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19It just sabotages me.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22You are an extraordinary couple together -
0:02:22 > 0:02:24a radiant couple, may I add?
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Martina, thank you.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30For so many years - and I may add, long before it was fashionable -
0:02:30 > 0:02:33you stood up and you spoke up,
0:02:33 > 0:02:34and we are eternally grateful for that.
0:02:34 > 0:02:35Thank you.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38'She's been a great fighter for people who are gay'
0:02:38 > 0:02:43and she's helped to crusade for people... People's rights.
0:02:43 > 0:02:44That's a very important thing to do,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48especially when you're involved in sport and music and whatever.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Julia, I promise to love you,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53to cherish you, in sickness and in health.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57No matter what, I will be there for you and for our family.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01I promise not to make the social media another member of our family.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03LAUGHTER
0:03:03 > 0:03:08I can just imagine how many girls growing up knowing they were gay
0:03:08 > 0:03:11must have thought, "Thank God for her."
0:03:11 > 0:03:14What an incredible example.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15With this ring...
0:03:16 > 0:03:18(..I thee wed.)
0:03:18 > 0:03:22By the powers vested in me by the State of New York,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25I pronounce you married.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26You may embrace.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28JULIA CHUCKLES
0:03:28 > 0:03:30APPLAUSE
0:03:33 > 0:03:36CHEERING
0:03:36 > 0:03:38This is a wedding day with a message.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Same-sex marriages can take place in New York,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44but not everywhere in America.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I got you. I got you.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50We wanted to do it before the end of the year.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Didn't want to wait, but it wasn't legal in Florida,
0:03:53 > 0:03:55so we had to do it somewhere else,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58and it just made sense logistically, emotionally.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Julia, same thing for her -
0:04:00 > 0:04:02she had some special times in New York City.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04It just made sense.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07She came up to me and said, "Hello, I'm Martina."
0:04:07 > 0:04:09I said, "Hi, I'm Julia."
0:04:09 > 0:04:12LAUGHTER
0:04:12 > 0:04:14And that was the beginning...
0:04:14 > 0:04:17of a beautiful friendship!
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Thank you to be such a wonderful parent
0:04:19 > 0:04:21to my girls - and your girls now -
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and I love you so much.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27And this is the most special day of my life.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29APPLAUSE
0:04:30 > 0:04:32'Cos we've been together for such a long time,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35'but I thought the kids felt more secure within the relationship
0:04:35 > 0:04:39'that it's validated and equal.'
0:04:39 > 0:04:42For me, I felt so much more secure,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44like you can't mess with my family any more,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47you cannot tell me I'm less than - and it was huge.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50That impact was bigger than I realised it would be.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56So, here we are, celebrating being full-fledged members of society.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58I know it's made a big difference for girls.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02To all those people that might have a problem with same-sex marriage,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I say look at our family.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07And I feel like most of my life is right in this room,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09one way or the other. I just wish...
0:05:10 > 0:05:13CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:05:15 > 0:05:17I wish my parents were here to see this,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20but I know they're watching and soon now we have a new family,
0:05:20 > 0:05:21so, thanks, everybody.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:05:24 > 0:05:27# And you can tell everybody
0:05:27 > 0:05:30# This is your song
0:05:30 > 0:05:34# It may be quite simple
0:05:34 > 0:05:38# But now that it's done... #
0:05:38 > 0:05:41'She's found her permanent doubles partner in life -
0:05:41 > 0:05:43'as I'm sure is endlessly said'
0:05:43 > 0:05:45at every tennis player's wedding!
0:05:45 > 0:05:47But not mixed doubles, in her case.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52# How wonderful life is
0:05:52 > 0:05:56# Now you're in the world. #
0:05:59 > 0:06:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- Goodbye.- Bye!- Bye.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16All without a hitch, so to speak.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18We got hitched without a hitch!
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Mrs Navratilova.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24I can't believe it.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26So now Mum is a Mrs,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28what do I call you now?
0:06:28 > 0:06:31You call me Martina.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Martina was born in Czechoslovakia -
0:06:41 > 0:06:46a country now split into Slovakia, and here, the Czech Republic.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52And it's to Prague that I've come, to find out more.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56We're going back in time, to an age when things were very different -
0:06:56 > 0:06:59to days long before I got to know her on tour.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09APPLAUSE
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Martina's parents divorced when she was three.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Her mother left Prague with her two daughters
0:07:17 > 0:07:20and they moved to a village 40 minutes away by train.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Revnice.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Martina, this is home, but this is the centre of the village.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Yes. This used to be cobblestoned, so riding a bicycle was, you know,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32a bit of a precarious proposition.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34The pub was there.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The grocery store was here,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39but now there's extra stores, and some changed.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42And the famous dentist. That's the window where he used to torture me.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43There was bad energy,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46because the dentist always used to give me a hard time.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48"You need to stop eating candy." I'm like, "I don't like candy.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51"I don't eat candy. I don't chew gum."
0:07:51 > 0:07:53I wasn't doing any of the bad things.
0:07:53 > 0:07:54And I still had bad teeth.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59On the tennis courts, it's somebody else.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00She even didn't like to practise.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Always, Father said, "Oh, you must do things, don't lay on the sofa."
0:08:04 > 0:08:07She doesn't like to run. Imagine!
0:08:07 > 0:08:10When she stops playing and at home, she is different.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Sensitive, playful.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16You know, this is what I used to do when I was a kid - walk around.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19That balance is still there, you see.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21Not...
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Not fall in.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24But usually there was no water in there.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- Ooh.- There we go. - Somebody turned the fountain on.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33For all the sense of fun, this was a childhood spent
0:08:33 > 0:08:36in post-Second World War Czechoslovakia.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Europe behind the Iron Curtain.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Growing up in a communist country,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42you just, kind of, did whatever it took.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45You know, you told a bad political joke and you would go to jail.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49But, you know, the childhood, up to when I left, at 18,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51I had a fantastic life here.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53In the summer, we swam in the river.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55In the winter, we skated on it.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58You know, climb people's fences and steal their cherries and walnuts.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00THEY LAUGH
0:09:00 > 0:09:03But you really couldn't buy fruit. They were very expensive.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07They were more expensive per pound or per kilo than the best meat.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12She was just a little, bouncy, happy child,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16with very exceptional physical capabilities.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I remember, I think we went to the local river
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and suddenly this little girl took a little pebble
0:09:22 > 0:09:24and she threw it as far as we could and we said,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26"Wow. I mean, this is quite amazing."
0:09:27 > 0:09:29My uncle, who was quite a tennis player,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31he said, "Yeah, she's an absolutely amazing kid.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33"I have never seen one like that."
0:09:33 > 0:09:35And I think they were tired of him a little bit.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38He was saying, "She's going to win Wimbledon before she's 20."
0:09:38 > 0:09:40He really believed in her.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42My mum was a great athlete.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I mean, she could have done anything she wanted to.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And she played volleyball, she ran track, she was very fast.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49She could have been a great tennis player.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52But she encouraged it in me, and then, I'm like,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54"OK, world, here I come!" And I was, like, ten.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59It's a lovely setting.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03And Karlstejn, which is a famous castle - that's maybe five miles
0:10:03 > 0:10:06as the crow flies - and that's a big tourist attraction.
0:10:06 > 0:10:07That's King Charles.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10He built the castle for his mistress.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12Those were the days.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14THEY LAUGH
0:10:14 > 0:10:18The courts are great. The middle one is where I hit my first ball
0:10:18 > 0:10:19on a real court.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Then, this one was the first time I put my feet together on the serve.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23Ah.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27I was right here. Our clubhouse is pretty much the same.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32I kissed my first boyfriend - no, second boyfriend - right there.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34In the clubhouse, in the locker room.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Whatever the attractions,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42it was here Martina first began entering the record books.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44This is when I won the Czech Championships
0:10:44 > 0:10:46and then, like, two weeks later,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48I won the Junior Championship, growing up.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50And even then, you're on tiptoes trying to be taller.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Yeah, I was just so short.
0:10:53 > 0:10:54And this was the women's part.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56- Right.- It still is women.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59So, damy - dames.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03So this is where I was snogging with my boyfriend, right here.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05- Right here. - SUE LAUGHS
0:11:05 > 0:11:07- And still the original locker doors. - Really?- Yeah.- Oh, no.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- Who...? Oh, that's Jana? - That's my sister.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- Oh!- That's my sister's locker, yeah. I was in the corner there.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13Do you come back here much?
0:11:13 > 0:11:16I come two, three times a year, yeah.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20So, now that my sister lives here again, the last three years,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22and every time I come back I hang out, yeah.
0:11:24 > 0:11:25By the time she was 14,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Martina was too good for the local club,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and so began her travels in tennis.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34First stop, not so very far away -
0:11:34 > 0:11:36the Sparta Prague club.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Here she met the Czech star of the day,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42the 1973 Wimbledon champion, Jan Kodes.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45As the number one in Czech,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47there was many people around here, you know,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49watching my practice, and so on.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Martina's father always come to me and says,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54"Hey, Jan, Martina is going to play on court for practice -
0:11:54 > 0:11:58"I like that you look at how she's playing." And I said,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01"Mirek, she shouldn't come to the net that often.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06"She should be more careful and prepare the approach much better."
0:12:06 > 0:12:08And he said, "Don't worry about it.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11"I think it's very good that she comes to the net,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15"because she will have something what the other girls never have.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17"Every girl can play from the baseline,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19"but if she learn to play on the net,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21"she's going to be extraordinary."
0:12:21 > 0:12:23And later it become true!
0:12:24 > 0:12:25I would hit for an hour
0:12:25 > 0:12:28and then we'd take the tram back to the train station
0:12:28 > 0:12:30and that was the routine, you know.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33I could, literally, hear the train coming and I'd start running
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and I could still catch it.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Going back and forth by tram,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40train, and on the back of the family motorbike,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44these were days of innocence that suddenly stopped.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55August, 1968. The Soviet response to the reform programme
0:12:55 > 0:12:57of Alexander Dubcek's government.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Do you regard your country as having been invaded this morning?
0:13:00 > 0:13:01It was an invasion, yes.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Where do you think Mr Dubcek is?
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- He appears to have vanished. - He's still in office.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07The Prague Spring was over.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13There was a picture in there with the girl that I was with
0:13:13 > 0:13:14when the Russian tanks came.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17I was in Pilsen, playing a junior tournament.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18I got there Thursday night,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Friday we were supposed to go play tennis.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23And Friday morning, her father called us and said -
0:13:23 > 0:13:27at eight in the morning - he says, "Don't go outside, there's tanks."
0:13:27 > 0:13:28So, of course, we went outside,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and by then, we saw the tanks everywhere, the roads were torn up,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36there was tanks everywhere, scouring the countryside.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39The Russians move around like strangers from another world,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41patrolling the streets by day and night
0:13:41 > 0:13:44and digging their roots even deeper into Czechoslovak soil.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48The Czechoslovaks watch their expansion grimly
0:13:48 > 0:13:53and react with the only workable attitude in this unreal situation.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56An attitude of silent defiance.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59It was just an amazing sadness going on in the country
0:13:59 > 0:14:03because, under Dubcek, we were feeling that, you know,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05we might...not have capitalism,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08but not communism, either -
0:14:08 > 0:14:09just kind of...we could breathe,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12we could travel, we could start your own business.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16There was a hope for having more freedoms - personal freedoms.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18And that was quashed.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The change was coming from the top, but they didn't like it,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24so they sent 600,000 soldiers, with tanks.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27The army was told to stand down, by the government,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29because we knew they had no chance.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34I think we can relate to one another because of the past that we had.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37In my case, growing up in a war-torn country,
0:14:37 > 0:14:42people would stand in line to get a piece of bread or just, you know,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44one bottle of milk and, you know,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46they would live on it for weeks,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50so it's not kind of experience that you wish for anybody to go through,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52but I'm sure that Martina would agree
0:14:52 > 0:14:56that those experiences have helped us to get tougher
0:14:56 > 0:14:58and get hungrier for the success.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02It's hard, you know, to understand what it was like,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05coming from a communist country, of how difficult it is to get out.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Well, that was the tricky bit.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09- Yeah.- Again, if I didn't get all the way to the top,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13I wouldn't have gotten the visa to get out of the country, so you...
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Was that added motivation, in a way?
0:15:15 > 0:15:16Yes, absolutely.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20I knew this was a way out, for me, of the country.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23It might be thought she was born at the wrong time -
0:15:23 > 0:15:25to be born in a totalitarian state.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27But where she was born and how she was born
0:15:27 > 0:15:30and her sexual identity
0:15:30 > 0:15:34gave her some of this extraordinary internal energy
0:15:34 > 0:15:36to fight, fight, fight.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38And if you'd taken that away from her -
0:15:38 > 0:15:41if exactly the same genetic package that is Martina
0:15:41 > 0:15:43had been born 30 years later
0:15:43 > 0:15:46and grown up after the Velvet Revolution
0:15:46 > 0:15:49in what would then be the Czech Republic -
0:15:49 > 0:15:51would she have the same fight in her tennis game?
0:15:54 > 0:15:58What really helped the travel plans - Martina's escape plans -
0:15:58 > 0:16:02was being national champion at the age of 17
0:16:02 > 0:16:05and leading Czechoslovakia to victory in the Federation Cup.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08To compete in the international team event,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11you couldn't stay put behind the Iron Curtain.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13You had to travel
0:16:13 > 0:16:17and Martina found herself travelling back and forth to America.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21It just felt so luxurious
0:16:21 > 0:16:23and easy and free.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28The Western culture was very much craved here.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32And we would listen to ABBA and Diana Ross and Neil Diamond,
0:16:32 > 0:16:33Elton John, of course.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35So, you brought a bit of that back.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And brought tapes, cassettes.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41She goes, "I want to be number one in the world and the only way
0:16:41 > 0:16:43"I can become number one in the world is if I live over here,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46"train over here and have the freedom
0:16:46 > 0:16:48"to train the way that I want to
0:16:48 > 0:16:50"and make the choices that I want to."
0:16:50 > 0:16:51I remember studying English,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54and there was a picture of the Empire State Building,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and I was telling my roommate,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58"I'm going there next year.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00"I'm going to be in New York."
0:17:00 > 0:17:02So, I was the bee's knees,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05cos I was going to get out of the country and go to New York City.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09It was something special in our country -
0:17:09 > 0:17:10communist country -
0:17:10 > 0:17:13it was like to travel to the moon now.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16# Have you been an un-American?
0:17:16 > 0:17:20# Just you and your idol singing falsetto 'bout
0:17:20 > 0:17:22# Leather, leather everywhere and... #
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Well, I think it was a culture shock for her
0:17:25 > 0:17:26when she came over to America,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and she was like a kid in a candy store.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32# All night
0:17:32 > 0:17:35# She wants the young American... #
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I first met Martina when she was 17,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41and you could tell right away she was going to be, like, number one,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43if she put her mind to it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44At the beginning,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46when she first got to America,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48all she did was eat and have fun
0:17:48 > 0:17:50and tried to be more American than Americans.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53She was eating pancakes and hamburgers
0:17:53 > 0:17:55and her diet was a bit off.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00But she had NO luxuries in Prague, Czechoslovakia,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02and she went wild for a little bit.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04# Young American
0:18:04 > 0:18:06# Young American... #
0:18:09 > 0:18:12You enjoyed everything in America, it was well documented.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14You put on quite a few pounds?
0:18:14 > 0:18:17I put on so much weight the first two weeks,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19I had to buy shorts in Dallas.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The second week on tour, I had to buy me a new pair of shorts
0:18:22 > 0:18:25because I couldn't fit into my normal clothes.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28So when Olga Morozova saw me the third tournament, she...
0:18:28 > 0:18:30First she didn't say anything. She just went...
0:18:30 > 0:18:33This is what she did to me, instead of saying hello -
0:18:33 > 0:18:35she just blew up her cheeks.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Great. I thought I just looked more feminine, you know?
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Because all my muscles were disappearing.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43I had little female curves
0:18:43 > 0:18:46and, you know, I'd have two hamburgers for lunch
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and two scoops of ice cream.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Breakfast, I would have eggs AND bacon AND pancakes
0:18:52 > 0:18:53AND cereal.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54I never had cereal growing up,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57never had pancakes growing up, so I just got heavy.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59I put on 20 pounds in two weeks.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01That's hard to do when you're playing tennis.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Living the good life
0:19:04 > 0:19:07was hardly going to please the regime back home.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10To compete in the major tournaments
0:19:10 > 0:19:13in the summer of 1975, she'd need a new visa.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Her father come to me and says, "Jan, you know,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23"the Federation wants to stop Martina to go to the US Open.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25"Could you help?"
0:19:25 > 0:19:28I went to the Minister of Sports, you know, and I said,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30"You cannot do this.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33"And if you stop her for now, what is going to happen in the future?"
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Imagine you want to go play the Italian -
0:19:37 > 0:19:39"Oh, no, we're not going to give you the visas,
0:19:39 > 0:19:40"because you're too Americanised."
0:19:40 > 0:19:44And then, I thought I cannot be in this limbo forever.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46And so, that's why I left.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47So...
0:19:48 > 0:19:51- Who did you discuss that with? Or was it...?- My dad.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54My dad knew that I was probably going to stay
0:19:54 > 0:19:58- and he said, "Don't tell Mum." - Wow.- "If you go, don't come back."
0:19:58 > 0:20:00But did he encourage you or did he just say...?
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Oh, he just said, you know,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06"That's the only choice you have, if you really want to play."
0:20:09 > 0:20:11So, I didn't tell Mum.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15She was calling from the United States and I told her on the phone,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19"Don't come back. Even if they will tell you anything, don't come back."
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Because they would put her to prison, of course.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25She was already a famous tennis player
0:20:25 > 0:20:30and those who tried to defect, or defected, they always got prison.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31That was a bold, brave move.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33I don't think I could have done that.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35I know I couldn't have done that -
0:20:35 > 0:20:39to be distanced from my family, and she...
0:20:39 > 0:20:41I remember asking her, "What about your family?"
0:20:41 > 0:20:43She goes, "I don't know when I'll ever see them."
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Once, after I lost to Chris in the semis at the US Open,
0:20:46 > 0:20:47the next day I went to
0:20:47 > 0:20:50the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53and the next morning it was in the paper already.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54They told me not to say anything,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56but the next morning it's in the Washington Post,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58that a famous tennis player defected.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01My goal in my life is to become number one.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03You know, I want to play as much as I can and...
0:21:05 > 0:21:07..when I want and where I want.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11And I didn't get this chance while being under the Czech government.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Have you been thinking about this move for a long while?
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Well, I've been thinking about it, you know, for a long time,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19but I never really thought that I would do it.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21I thought I might, you know,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24get married some day and maybe live in the States,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27but I seriously started thinking about it
0:21:27 > 0:21:29about a couple of weeks ago.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31In the communist country, when somebody left the country,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33or somebody of your family
0:21:33 > 0:21:36was politically active against communists,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40so the rest of the family somehow suffered.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Kids couldn't go to school,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44or people lost their jobs,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46they lost their house,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48so people didn't talk to us.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52They didn't want to be friends with us any more because Martina was bad,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55like they wrote very badly about her in newspapers,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57that she left the country and...
0:21:58 > 0:21:59I left the country,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03because I had some problems with the director of the school,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07who actually told me that she is a shame for the nation,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09that there is no place for me at university
0:22:09 > 0:22:12and show me the door and say, "There you go."
0:22:12 > 0:22:14When people ask me, "What are your regrets?"
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I said I regret that I had to do that.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18That I had to leave my family.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21I had to leave my, you know, home country
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and leave everything behind.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28It was like she died.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31It was so sad, you can't imagine it.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35I admire her courage, because she was number one, OK,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37she had money after that,
0:22:37 > 0:22:42but to be alone, and she was 17, 18 years old.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48I was a little bit scared for her, because I knew she was immature.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52She was 18-year-old kid and she...
0:22:52 > 0:22:55I was wondering whether she'll be able to handle it,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57and that was one thing - she was able to find good people
0:22:57 > 0:22:59to give her good advice.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Professional tennis in the 1970s
0:23:02 > 0:23:06was in the throes of a capitalist makeover.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Players were forming their own tours,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10pushing against the old order.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13They were pushing themselves
0:23:13 > 0:23:17and Martina soon spotted who were the best - and why.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20I think when we went down to the practice courts,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23with the likes of Harry Hopman and the Australians that, you know,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26I think Martina recognised that...
0:23:26 > 0:23:28why we were winning.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30It was because we were fitter.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Martina, she was young and was getting through the matches,
0:23:36 > 0:23:37but as she climbed up the ladder
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and got into the quarterfinals and semifinals
0:23:40 > 0:23:42and then winning some matches,
0:23:42 > 0:23:47that gives you the experience and the determination to say,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51"Hey, I'm here to play and I'm here to win."
0:23:51 > 0:23:54MUSIC: Popcorn by Hot Butter
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Chris Evert was an early friend and doubles partner.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00CHEERING
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Together, they won Wimbledon in 1976.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06A Grand Slam title, to add to the doubles they'd won
0:24:06 > 0:24:08at the French Open the year before.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14In singles, the friend was a rival.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18The core and the essence of Martina hasn't changed.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20She is calmer, I think.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23As she gets older, she bloss... I think we're both late bloomers.
0:24:23 > 0:24:24I think that tennis bit,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26when you're in such an intense, competitive environment,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31it's not conducive to growing, necessarily, as a person.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36Martina's breakthrough moment came in the Wimbledon final of 1978.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39She would become champion and world number one
0:24:39 > 0:24:42for the first time.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44I turned 16 during that championship
0:24:44 > 0:24:46and I just remember the joy
0:24:46 > 0:24:48of her winning her first major.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Who knew that it would be the first of 18?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01I was happy that, even though I had lost in the middle weekend,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05that I stayed to watch her defeat Chrissy,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07live and in person,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10because in such an early part of MY playing career,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14it was important to see that kind of match in person.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17- Yeah! - CHEERING
0:25:17 > 0:25:19That's it. She's won it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25If we wanted to see her on the TV,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28we had to go to Pilsen, close to the border to the West,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31and we had some friends and they showed German TV.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34So we could see her playing on the TV.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Czech TV didn't show it.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38They would show until I started winning
0:25:38 > 0:25:39and then they wouldn't show it.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41That's how people knew I was in the finals -
0:25:41 > 0:25:43when they didn't show the final.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45When I lost early, then they showed the final.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47They would write about the tournament
0:25:47 > 0:25:51and then, kind of, ignore my half of the draw.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53And when I got to the finals, they stopped talking about it.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55That's how people knew I was winning,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58when there was nothing in the paper.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59You know, she was playing
0:25:59 > 0:26:01and we were very nervous, it was terrible.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Mamma had to take a cognac.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Father, a little brandy.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07You know. And after a match, "Hah!"
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Mrs Jana Navratilova hadn't seen her daughter
0:26:13 > 0:26:16since she defected to the West four years ago.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18But today, she was able to watch her daughter
0:26:18 > 0:26:21as she played her opening match on the Centre Court,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23in defence of the title she won last year.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Permission was finally granted,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27when the All England Club contacted
0:26:27 > 0:26:29the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33It's like long-lost daughter or son coming from war, almost.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35At some point, we didn't even know
0:26:35 > 0:26:38if we would ever see each other again,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41and it's... It all happened so quickly, that we really didn't...
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Neither one of us was really hoping to get it done,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47but when it finally happened, it was just very thrilling,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49you know, you can't really describe it.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52It's four years since you last saw her in the flesh.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54- Four and a half. - How has she changed?
0:26:54 > 0:26:58- She is now very...- Skinny.- ..skinny.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And for me, is very, very beautiful.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Mrs Navratilova, nice picture together.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Having eaten on arrival in America,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Martina was now burning up the calories.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12This was a new regime
0:27:12 > 0:27:14of mental strength and fitness.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16By the late '70s, early '80s,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19we were ready to talk about nutrition and working out
0:27:19 > 0:27:22and weights and all that - and with her physique,
0:27:22 > 0:27:27she was just perfect to really push the game forward.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Just getting more information about nutrition
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and how to cross-train more, Martina was amazing.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35Every week, she'd always want to lift weights
0:27:35 > 0:27:36at least once, to maintain.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39# Let's get physical... #
0:27:39 > 0:27:41This was taking the women's game
0:27:41 > 0:27:44into a new dimension - a new domination.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Even amongst the best sportsmen and women,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49there are very few people who can come back year after year
0:27:49 > 0:27:52to take the top prizes again and again.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56I guess I started the fitness craze, you know,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59in that I started working out off the court.
0:27:59 > 0:28:00I didn't just do my training on the court,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02I did other sports.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04And so, I guess I was the pioneer in that,
0:28:04 > 0:28:08while everything got more technical and technological.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10# Physical, physical... #
0:28:10 > 0:28:13By the mid-1980s, she was totally dominant...
0:28:15 > 0:28:18..winning six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Do you have any advice to young people watching Record Breakers,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25who would like to be the best in the world?
0:28:25 > 0:28:27First of all, do your best.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29That's number... That goes without saying.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31You know, you can't slouch off
0:28:31 > 0:28:33and expect for things to fall into your lap -
0:28:33 > 0:28:35you have to give it your best effort.
0:28:35 > 0:28:36I agree with her there.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39She's right on the money. And, boy, was she fit!
0:28:41 > 0:28:43My generation were the transition generation,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46from amateur to professional tennis - we had both.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50And then, the second generation is your Chris and Martina,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53and so, the first generation was so lucky
0:28:53 > 0:28:55to have the second generation.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57They were true superstars.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Martina and Chris had the greatest rivalry in the sport, ever.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04If they had been men, they would talk about it constantly.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Martina and Chris were that exceptional.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12At their peak, they met in 14 Grand Slam finals.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Former doubles partners,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18locked into an individual rivalry
0:29:18 > 0:29:20that spanned more than a decade.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23I appreciated her for what she did for women's tennis
0:29:23 > 0:29:25and what she did for my game,
0:29:25 > 0:29:26which was to lift the level -
0:29:26 > 0:29:29and she appreciated me, I think, to have as a rival.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:29:34 > 0:29:36We were lucky we had those two players.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39They made a huge difference.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42If we didn't have them, I don't know if we still would have a WTA tour.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49They competed and they're trying to be friends and then they aren't,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52because Chris cannot be friends when you're competing.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53She told me that when I was a player.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56She said, "Billie, I can't be your friend.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58"Can we wait until my career is over?" Go.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04- That's it. She's won it.- Game, set and match, Miss Navratilova.
0:30:04 > 0:30:081979, four years after her defection,
0:30:08 > 0:30:12she was able to win Wimbledon in front of her mother.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16Sometimes, it seemed she was one of the few Martina fans.
0:30:16 > 0:30:21I was asked somewhere to list my heroes and I included Martina.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23And one of the reasons was simply
0:30:23 > 0:30:26the joy and excitement she gave me in tennis -
0:30:26 > 0:30:28a new kind of thrill -
0:30:28 > 0:30:31and also knowing that a lot of British people
0:30:31 > 0:30:33didn't want her to win.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35APPLAUSE
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Of course, when you're playing against a crowd favourite
0:30:41 > 0:30:44that has the majority of the support in the stadium,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47you have to accept that as a reality and a fact.
0:30:49 > 0:30:50You know, in those circumstances,
0:30:50 > 0:30:55those are the opportunities for you to grow your character strengths.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01I'm sure that those kind of experiences also made her tougher.
0:31:10 > 0:31:11That's it.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21You know, I think the beauty of our rivalry
0:31:21 > 0:31:24is that specific point that we were so different, you know?
0:31:24 > 0:31:27And even at a young age, I was American,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30she was from a communist country.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Quiet, please, ladies and gentlemen.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Very emotional on the court and I was cool and calm,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37and she was a serve-volleyer, aggressive,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39and I was a baseliner.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42And so she brought her set of fans to the matches
0:31:42 > 0:31:44and I brought my set of fans to the matches
0:31:44 > 0:31:47and, you know, that's why I think it was so interesting,
0:31:47 > 0:31:48because of the contrast.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53It's out, that's it.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Game, set and championship, Miss Navratilova.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58We were very opposite, but deep down
0:31:58 > 0:32:01there is a sense of compassion when the other one lost.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04After we retired, we could just shake off
0:32:04 > 0:32:07any sort of competitiveness, jealousy,
0:32:07 > 0:32:08negative feeling that we had,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12and we could just totally appreciate each other as just human beings,
0:32:12 > 0:32:13not only as tennis players.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17I think it's great that, at 31 years old,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20you're still winning these types of awards. I think it's great.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Are you going to retire soon or let us have a chance?
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Well, first you have to retire.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26- You're older than I am, don't you remember?- I am?
0:32:26 > 0:32:27At least a year.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30They always got along better than people think.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Roller coaster - but, look now, they're great friends.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35Since you haven't won too many awards this year,
0:32:35 > 0:32:37only the two biggest tournaments
0:32:37 > 0:32:39in the world - Wimbledon and the US Open -
0:32:39 > 0:32:41I'd like to present this BBC Television
0:32:41 > 0:32:43Overseas Sports Personality Award to you.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45I think it's very merited.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48From one personality to another, thanks.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52We went back to Czechoslovakia when she was an American citizen,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and I witnessed that whole scene, which was incredible.
0:32:55 > 0:32:56The media were there in force for
0:32:56 > 0:33:00a homecoming that was been stoically ignored by the Czech authorities.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Some journalists carried photographs
0:33:02 > 0:33:05to make sure they'd recognise the world's number one tennis player
0:33:05 > 0:33:07when she appeared from the customs hall.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10It was the first time that Navratilova had seen her family
0:33:10 > 0:33:12in 11 years.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15But what she might have hoped would be a touching moment
0:33:15 > 0:33:18became a scramble to force her way through the arrivals lounge
0:33:18 > 0:33:19at Prague Airport.
0:33:19 > 0:33:20She was a non-person,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23meaning the American team led by Chris Evert,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Pam Shriver, Zina Garrison,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27but there's no mention of Martina, at all
0:33:27 > 0:33:30in any sort of newspaper, etc.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32We go out and the American team is introduced
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and I looked in the corner of my eye over at the balcony,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37where all the officials were -
0:33:37 > 0:33:38the government officials -
0:33:38 > 0:33:41and they just sat in their chair and didn't respond -
0:33:41 > 0:33:43didn't clap, didn't stand up.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46They just were, you know, poker face and just looking at the scene.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48The fans LOVE her.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Got more of a standing ovation
0:33:50 > 0:33:52then Jana Novotna and Hana Mandlikova
0:33:52 > 0:33:55and, you know, Helena Sukova,
0:33:55 > 0:33:57who were the Czechoslovakian team.
0:33:57 > 0:33:58It was a delightful surprise,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00let's put it that way,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03for everybody who went over there partaking in this match.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08The public embrace of Martina returning back to her homeland,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11returning as one of the great champions of the sport of tennis -
0:34:11 > 0:34:15seeing the public embrace was incredible.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Welcomed - back home and in America,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21where her parents defected to join her.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23Finally, acceptance of her
0:34:23 > 0:34:27and acceptance BY her of her own feelings.
0:34:27 > 0:34:28I really didn't figure it out
0:34:28 > 0:34:31until I had my first relationship with a woman.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33When it did happen, I'm like, "Oh, that's what it was!"
0:34:33 > 0:34:35You know, because I've had these crushes,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37but I didn't recognise them
0:34:37 > 0:34:39as anything but just crushes on adults, you know?
0:34:39 > 0:34:41I had crushes on men, as well.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43But they were definitely stronger on women.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45My dad asked, you know,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47"We think that you're living as a man and a woman" -
0:34:47 > 0:34:50with this woman that I was with, and I always said, if they ask me,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53I will tell them, so that's exactly what happened.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55You know, five years after I'd been with a woman,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57they asked, and I said, yes,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00and then all hell, kind of, broke loose, but...
0:35:00 > 0:35:04You know, Dad said some things that he wished that he hadn't said,
0:35:04 > 0:35:05but he didn't know.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07Again, people really didn't know any better.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10We never stopped talking or anything, but there was a tension,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13and then my dad, he educated himself,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15he read some books, and he says,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17"You know, I realise now it had nothing to do with you or me.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19"It's just, this is who you are and it's OK.
0:35:19 > 0:35:20"I just want you to be happy."
0:35:20 > 0:35:24And that's all you want from your parents - and this is 30 years ago.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26You talk about your family coming over.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Did you buy them a separate house,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31because you wanted to protect them from finding out?
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Well, no.
0:35:33 > 0:35:34I needed the space on my own,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36even if I had been married with a man,
0:35:36 > 0:35:39I still would have wanted that separate house, you know.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42I'm an adult now and, you know, the parents live next door, not...
0:35:42 > 0:35:44I mean, they live, like, three houses down.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47So, at the end, it was all only about me being happy,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50and does the person I'm with treat me well?
0:35:51 > 0:35:55But her private life would be played out in public.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57There were televised lawsuits.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Breaking up was hard enough,
0:35:59 > 0:36:02but this was suffering in the glare of exposure.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05The emotional toll was obvious,
0:36:05 > 0:36:08the financial cost revealed for all to see.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10What was not so clear -
0:36:10 > 0:36:12the costs of being openly gay.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I knew it would cost me on many levels.
0:36:16 > 0:36:17What I didn't realise
0:36:17 > 0:36:20is how much it would cost me in fan support.
0:36:20 > 0:36:21That was a very negative thing,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24from the fans' standpoint, I mean.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27- From crowd reaction or from letters? - Yes, crowd reaction.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Letters, crowd reaction, response to when I was...
0:36:31 > 0:36:33When I would come on the court.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36When I started winning, it really... Being gay and winning,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39I think it was too threatening, you know?
0:36:39 > 0:36:41It was OK to be gay as long as I was losing,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43but when I started dominating,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45somehow I had an "unfair advantage".
0:36:45 > 0:36:47I don't know how!
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Financially, it would have cost you a lot.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53I didn't lose any deals, but I didn't get any new deals,
0:36:53 > 0:36:54let's put it that way.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57I had my shoes, rackets and clothing contracts always
0:36:57 > 0:37:00and then, when I started winning, the money was better.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03But did I ever get paid as much as Chris for the same deals?
0:37:03 > 0:37:07I doubt it. And I certainly didn't get any outside deals
0:37:07 > 0:37:09for, you know, Wheaties.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11All right, here we go, it's nice and quiet.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13Let's roll sound, roll camera,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16set and action.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20The world is about challenging yourself more than anyone else.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23- And cut. That was beautiful. - All right. I'm cutting there.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26- Was it breathy enough?- That was breathy enough, that was good.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29'The good thing for Martina, which I was very happy about,'
0:37:29 > 0:37:31is she was able to keep playing.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Here we go. We are set.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36By doing that, the LGBT community
0:37:36 > 0:37:38had a champion who was still playing,
0:37:38 > 0:37:39which was thrilled.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42You know, she's one of our - I call women sheroes.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44It comes from her passion. As a player, she was passionate
0:37:44 > 0:37:47and she still is, and that comes from within.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50I mean, two people I can think of are Billie Jean and Martina
0:37:50 > 0:37:51that have that passion.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53They're still as passionate now -
0:37:53 > 0:37:56more passionate - because of a few humanitarian things,
0:37:56 > 0:37:57as well as tennis.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00She voices her opinion, even if it's controversial,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03even if it goes against the norm or the grain,
0:38:03 > 0:38:05and probably made some mistakes,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09but I think better to be that way than never to say anything.
0:38:10 > 0:38:11Like me!
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Hello. I'm Martina Navratilova.
0:38:16 > 0:38:17Former number one in the world.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22Come and have a chat with me about conquering the world.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25I'll do it again.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28- I think that was great. That was perfect. That was it.- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31'She's very good company. She has a very dry sense of humour
0:38:31 > 0:38:33'and her eyes hold you.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36'I sat next to her at Wimbledon and I was her guest -'
0:38:36 > 0:38:39she very kindly invited me to stand in for her wife,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41so I was her temporary wife.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43She's the kind of person - a bit like Bob Dylan -
0:38:43 > 0:38:45that you just don't want to get in their bad books.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49You don't want them to give you a look of, "Who are you?"
0:38:49 > 0:38:51She's got real presence.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54I think she loves the sport
0:38:54 > 0:38:57because, even a couple of years ago,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59I saw her on the tournaments
0:38:59 > 0:39:01and practising a lot.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04I think that's been part of her compass in life,
0:39:04 > 0:39:06is the great sport of tennis,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10but she certainly is ageing gracefully
0:39:10 > 0:39:12and, you know, now to see her
0:39:12 > 0:39:14in a marriage partnership with Julia,
0:39:14 > 0:39:18it's just another amazing stage of this incredible woman.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21THEY SING
0:39:22 > 0:39:25I guess warm people attract warm people.
0:39:26 > 0:39:27Well, she's Russian.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Who knew that a Czech and a Russian would get along this well?
0:39:30 > 0:39:33It didn't go so well back in the '60s, but here we are,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36and for many reasons, it's emotional -
0:39:36 > 0:39:39the impossibility of even thinking that you will get married,
0:39:39 > 0:39:41you know, growing up as a gay woman.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44And Julia, we meet and she has kids
0:39:44 > 0:39:45and we just become a family,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48and everybody's happy that we're happy, so it's great.
0:39:50 > 0:39:51Relaxing - perhaps the secret
0:39:51 > 0:39:56behind one of the most successful partnerships in professional tennis.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01I always said, while we played,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03one of the reasons why our partnership lasted so long
0:40:03 > 0:40:06is we actually did not spend that much time together
0:40:06 > 0:40:08away from the courts.
0:40:08 > 0:40:09So when we were together,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11it was really pretty fresh and fun.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17From July 1983 to June 1985,
0:40:17 > 0:40:21Martina and Pam won every Grand Slam doubles.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26In total, they were undefeated in 109 matches.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Everybody has a lucky break,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34I believe, in life - in their business life,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37in their personal life - she was my lucky break.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41There were others, but mostly with Pam,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Martina won more doubles titles than singles.
0:40:44 > 0:40:45I remember telling her at 17,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47"You're going to be the greatest player ever."
0:40:47 > 0:40:50I always thought she was the best singles, doubles and mixed player
0:40:50 > 0:40:53ever to have lived, up to this time.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55I think Serena might do better,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59but most of them don't want to play doubles and mixed,
0:40:59 > 0:41:00like our generations.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Well, it's tough, no, because in terms of timings and the schedule,
0:41:04 > 0:41:08it's difficult to play mixed and doubles,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11because to adjust and be 100% focused in one thing
0:41:11 > 0:41:15if you have to compete in three different tournaments, no,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18so it's amazing all the things that she did
0:41:18 > 0:41:21and she is one of the most important stars
0:41:21 > 0:41:24in the world of tennis for a long time.
0:41:24 > 0:41:25Maybe Martina forever will be
0:41:25 > 0:41:28the best singles, doubles and mixed player to have ever lived.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30She's such an all-around great athlete.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34This year's Lifetime Achievement winner is Martina Navratilova.
0:41:34 > 0:41:39In 2003, she equalled Billie Jean King's haul of Wimbledon titles -
0:41:39 > 0:41:4120.
0:41:41 > 0:41:42Each one has its own story.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46When I was playing with Martina at Wimbledon in 2003 in the summer,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48and as I jumped up for a smash, the lights went out.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51But it wasn't really the lights went out,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53because you're playing in broad daylight,
0:41:53 > 0:41:55but it was I lost my vision.
0:41:55 > 0:41:56And I had the presence of mind
0:41:56 > 0:41:58to cover my head with my hands to protect myself,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00and I came down like a ton of bricks.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04And when Martina came to me and she tapped me on the head,
0:42:04 > 0:42:06she realised I was burning up with fever.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Well, I did not want to tell her that I was playing with 104.3 fever,
0:42:09 > 0:42:10I did not want to tell her
0:42:10 > 0:42:12that I had this thumping headache for 48 hours
0:42:12 > 0:42:14and I wasn't feeling good, at all,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17because I knew she wouldn't let me play.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19So, I persevered through it and we won Wimbledon.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21But the next morning,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24I went back to Florida and I was diagnosed with a tumour in my head
0:42:24 > 0:42:27and I was very lucky that it wasn't something permanent.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28I think you'll be surprised
0:42:28 > 0:42:30to see the person walking out here with the trophy.
0:42:30 > 0:42:31You don't know he's here,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33but he wanted to be a part of your celebration -
0:42:33 > 0:42:37- it is your mixed-doubles partner, Leander Paes.- Are you kidding?!
0:42:37 > 0:42:39APPLAUSE
0:42:41 > 0:42:43'I'm very emotional about Martina.'
0:42:44 > 0:42:46'Martina is just someone
0:42:46 > 0:42:49'that's not just a champion of tennis,
0:42:49 > 0:42:51'but she's a champion of life.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55'When I was in hospital, my 9pm phone call was always her.'
0:42:55 > 0:42:56I just feel that I'm a blessed man
0:42:56 > 0:42:59to have Martina as one of my best friends.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01I think you'll be back next year, won't you?
0:43:01 > 0:43:04I'll definitely be here, whether I'm playing or not. But I'll be here.
0:43:04 > 0:43:05- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Well done to Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova!
0:43:10 > 0:43:12She would play on.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Three years after this, she'd win her last major title -
0:43:15 > 0:43:17the mixed doubles at the US Open,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20a month short of her 50th birthday.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Martina - more appreciated with each passing year,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26with each passing tear.
0:43:26 > 0:43:31At home in America, at home here on the green grass of Wimbledon,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34and in the homeland she so dramatically left as a teenager.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Now a citizen of two countries -
0:43:38 > 0:43:41America and, since 2008,
0:43:41 > 0:43:42the Czech Republic.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46So, she can easily relive her Prague childhood -
0:43:46 > 0:43:48every last bit of it.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50At least you can trust your dentist.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52I hope so!
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Severely testing family love,
0:43:55 > 0:43:59the dentist here is her younger sister, Jana.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01She's laughing.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03She's a sadist.
0:44:03 > 0:44:04She's really going to enjoy this.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06What was I thinking?
0:44:06 > 0:44:08- WHIRRING - Ah!
0:44:09 > 0:44:12No, no, no, no. That's not funny.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15'She loves reading a book, eating - she loves to eat.'
0:44:15 > 0:44:18She's always very happy when I cook for her and I always ask her,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21"What do you want? What should I make for you when you come?"
0:44:21 > 0:44:23And she says, "Oh, do you have something sweet?"
0:44:23 > 0:44:25"Could you do me a palatschinke?" -
0:44:25 > 0:44:29it's a crepe she like. And then she relax and is happy.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31LAUGHTER
0:44:31 > 0:44:33We're going to go for lunch now.
0:44:33 > 0:44:34Test the teeth out.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36See you later. Bye.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Her hometown has changed over the years, but not much.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50There are still no traffic lights, yet it's home.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53And somewhere, she can share a cake or two
0:44:53 > 0:44:57with the girl she first sat beside in school.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02- And their family lived in there? - Yeah, they never moved.
0:45:02 > 0:45:03I mean, that was their house.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06And I think if my parents had not moved to the States for a year,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08we would still be in that house.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10Instead of, you know, where my sister is now.
0:45:10 > 0:45:11Was that sad for your parents,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14- to come back and not go back into their house?- Yeah.
0:45:14 > 0:45:15Yeah, it was difficult,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19because it was not just a matter of...emotions,
0:45:19 > 0:45:20but it was a matter of inconvenience,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23because it was difficult to find a house
0:45:23 > 0:45:25and they wanted to live in this town.
0:45:25 > 0:45:26My dad called and said, you know,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28"We found a place", so I sent him 50,000,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30they bought the house and that was that.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33But they were just lucky that they were able to even get it.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35So, this building was...
0:45:35 > 0:45:39- That's the Sokol, so the gym is in this building here.- What's Sokol?
0:45:39 > 0:45:45Sokol, he was the guy that started these clubs for exercise.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48And fitness has always been a major part of your life.
0:45:48 > 0:45:49Raising two kids in America,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52you have to be, you know, there's so many...
0:45:52 > 0:45:55Yes. Julia was always very strict with the kids,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58you know, very natural, healthy lifestyle.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01TRANSLATION:
0:46:05 > 0:46:08- Could you hear her chewing? - Yes, I could hear her chewing.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Somebody I know bought them chewing gum.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14- I never buy them chewing gum. - I didn't buy them chewing gum.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19Do I need to be the police and check everything you do?
0:46:19 > 0:46:22- We don't allow you to use... - It was in the candy.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24- You allow us to chew.- No.- No.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27In the States it's a little more difficult,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30because there is just so much junk food out there,
0:46:30 > 0:46:32but we prepare their lunches
0:46:32 > 0:46:35and they get a soft drink
0:46:35 > 0:46:37maybe four times a year, you know.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39So, we restrict them, but they like it
0:46:39 > 0:46:42because they realise that it's better for them as well.
0:46:42 > 0:46:43Especially the older one, you know -
0:46:43 > 0:46:46she's 14 now, so she has to be careful with her skin,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49so it's a little bit easier, but they're good kids.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51- They're easy.- And they're at the Chris Evert Academy.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54And right now, they're both at Chris Evert's Academy.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56Go figure! How funny is that?
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Do you have to get a pass to go in there?
0:46:58 > 0:47:01Chris gives me a really good deal. So, life is funny.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04How would you feel if one of them wanted to play tennis?
0:47:04 > 0:47:07I'd love it. I mean, I'm certainly not pushing them into it,
0:47:07 > 0:47:09but if they want it and they love it, it's great.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12When you think about what you had to go through as a kid now,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14and how lucky, you know, they are
0:47:14 > 0:47:15in just being able to go to the Academy.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17It's different.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Well, yeah, life is complicated
0:47:20 > 0:47:22and it's difficult in different ways,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25but, yeah, I had a great life here, you know?
0:47:25 > 0:47:27OK, so I only had one pair of tennis shoes
0:47:27 > 0:47:28and I only had two pairs of pants
0:47:28 > 0:47:31but, you know, like I said, I was never hungry,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33I was never cold, so life is good.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38A breast cancer scare in 2010
0:47:38 > 0:47:41motivated Martina to campaign and encourage women
0:47:41 > 0:47:43to have regular check-ups.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Mine was four years in between and I didn't realise it at the time.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49I just, kind of, put it off.
0:47:49 > 0:47:50I moved, so I changed doctors,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53and I'm like, I'll do it, you know, next spring,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55and then the next thing you know, you're in Australia
0:47:55 > 0:47:56and you still haven't done it.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00And so, it might have not turned into anything.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04It was DCIS, but it can become cancer.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07It can spread and it's risky, obviously,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09and it was terrifying.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Well, when I heard she had cancer,
0:48:12 > 0:48:16it was a tough one for me, because I lost a sister to cancer,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20I lost my first husband to cancer and I lost my dad to cancer.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22So, when it happened,
0:48:22 > 0:48:24we didn't speak about it all that much.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28I didn't offer to be that close support
0:48:28 > 0:48:30and I did it, basically, because, you know,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32I haven't had the most positive experience.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34But she's, sort of, a close...
0:48:34 > 0:48:39You know, she's an example of a close friend that I can say,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42"Hey, I have somebody really close to me that is positive,
0:48:42 > 0:48:43"has a positive result."
0:48:45 > 0:48:48It's life. And it's...
0:48:48 > 0:48:50I don't think Martina thinks like this.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54She doesn't think it's a pity for her or something, you know.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58She's going on and doing things,
0:48:58 > 0:49:00so she doesn't think, "Oh, I am sick."
0:49:00 > 0:49:01I don't think so.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04I knew the diagnosis of the illness,
0:49:04 > 0:49:06so I had good hope
0:49:06 > 0:49:09and I knew that she will recover,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12so I knew it, so to say.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15So I was happy when everything was over, yeah.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20'It's just in God's hands and the surgeon, and fate or whatever.'
0:49:20 > 0:49:23You just, kind of, hope and, you know, it's been five years.
0:49:23 > 0:49:24SHE KNOCKS
0:49:24 > 0:49:26Yeah. And it's an important lesson that we all...
0:49:26 > 0:49:28- That we've all learned from that.- Absolutely.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32You decided you wanted to talk about it, confront it,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34and show how to deal with it.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38Well, again, it's like being in the closet about something.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40So when I first knew what I had,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and I had to have surgery, I didn't talk about it -
0:49:43 > 0:49:45I thought, "I don't want to go public!"
0:49:45 > 0:49:48But then when I really found out more about what happened to me,
0:49:48 > 0:49:49why I had it, what I had,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52how important it was to get those yearly checkups,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54I'm like, "I can't keep this quiet."
0:49:54 > 0:49:56I, kind of, felt that I had a duty to speak out,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59to encourage women to have that yearly check-up.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02'She's incredibly hard-working.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04'When we were doing one of our early French Opens,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07'we were fully prepared to fill in for her
0:50:07 > 0:50:09'whatever she needed, of course.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11'She said, "Don't be silly, I'm going to work."'
0:50:11 > 0:50:13She would do her treatment in the morning
0:50:13 > 0:50:15before coming to the tournament,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17then broadcast the tournament
0:50:17 > 0:50:18and then go out and practise,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21because she was going to play in the Legends tournament at the end -
0:50:21 > 0:50:22and won it.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25She has the world's biggest heart
0:50:25 > 0:50:29and she has - ironically - very little, if any, ego.
0:50:29 > 0:50:30It's remarkable.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32She's not a tough gal, by any stretch.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34She's got a very dry sense of humour,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and she's also fearless and adventurous.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40- So, Julia Lemigova... - No, it's not happening.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Please marry me.
0:50:42 > 0:50:43Please marry me.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47I don't care how times you've won on that court,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50to propose to somebody, in effect, live,
0:50:50 > 0:50:52in front of millions of people,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55it is a great reflection of who Martina is.
0:50:55 > 0:50:56You say yes?
0:50:56 > 0:50:59CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:51:02 > 0:51:03# Hey, kids
0:51:03 > 0:51:05# Shake it loose together
0:51:05 > 0:51:07# The spotlight's hitting something
0:51:07 > 0:51:09# That's been known to change the weather
0:51:09 > 0:51:12# We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
0:51:12 > 0:51:13# So stick around... #
0:51:13 > 0:51:15When you see her in action on the court
0:51:15 > 0:51:18and then you see her in action off the court,
0:51:18 > 0:51:23fighting her cause and sticking up for people
0:51:23 > 0:51:25and trying to change the world, it brings a smile to your face.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28I can't tell you how much that means
0:51:28 > 0:51:30to me and to millions of other people.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33# B-B-B-Benny and the Jets... #
0:51:33 > 0:51:34You know, you really can't compare eras,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36because if Steffi was growing up now,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39she would have a different backhand and different strokes,
0:51:39 > 0:51:40I would have different strokes.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43I think that Steffi's slice would have given everybody...
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Well, it gave me fits, and I like low-bouncing balls.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49- I think the...- Who doesn't?
0:51:49 > 0:51:51LAUGHTER
0:51:51 > 0:51:54I thought you liked 'em high!
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Anyway, be that as it may.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59I'm actually playing doubles with her, which is quite frightening
0:51:59 > 0:52:01because I'm not a great net player
0:52:01 > 0:52:03and she insists that I get up to the net,
0:52:03 > 0:52:05so she's terrifying to play with.
0:52:05 > 0:52:06You're playing alongside
0:52:06 > 0:52:08probably the greatest female tennis player of all time
0:52:08 > 0:52:13and, you know...it's one thing singing in front of people,
0:52:13 > 0:52:17but it's another thing having to perform with that kind of greatness.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23Team Elton John taking on Team Billie Jean King.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25CHEERING
0:52:28 > 0:52:31The fact that she's still playing pretty damn good
0:52:31 > 0:52:33at nearly 60 years of age
0:52:33 > 0:52:35is quite remarkable.
0:52:35 > 0:52:36You know, I've had the luck
0:52:36 > 0:52:38to have watched her up close,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41to have seen her many victories at Wimbledon
0:52:41 > 0:52:43and throughout the world, and just be astonished
0:52:43 > 0:52:46that the fact she loves the game so much.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48I love people who keep going and have the passion,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50and I still feel the same -
0:52:50 > 0:52:53I'll be 69 next birthday, but I have as much enthusiasm now
0:52:53 > 0:52:54as I did when I was 20,
0:52:54 > 0:52:56and I think you could say the same of Martina.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01So, when Martina talks to athletes and talks to ordinary people,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04I think she has a good effect on them.
0:53:04 > 0:53:09# Benny, Benny, Benny
0:53:09 > 0:53:11# Benny, Benny and the Jets... #
0:53:11 > 0:53:14From Vegas to Cambridge,
0:53:14 > 0:53:16from bright lights to light blues,
0:53:16 > 0:53:20a champion of lawn tennis playing the oldest version of the game...
0:53:22 > 0:53:23..real tennis.
0:53:25 > 0:53:26She is about to become
0:53:26 > 0:53:29an Honorary Fellow of a Cambridge college.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31The college is called Lucy Cavendish.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36This is very different from the journey she began
0:53:36 > 0:53:38as a young tennis player in Czechoslovakia.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Game. 2-0.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43She's like an absolute legend.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45I know.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Oh! My family are going to be so jealous.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50I told my sisters - they were just like,
0:53:50 > 0:53:52"What? How is this even possible?"
0:53:54 > 0:53:56So it's a different bounce to what you're used to.
0:53:58 > 0:53:59I think it's really good
0:53:59 > 0:54:01to have someone like that promoting women's sport.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04I think it's something that's growing massively at the moment,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and to have someone like her come along,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09it's just obviously really encouraging.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11I think that will only spur people on
0:54:11 > 0:54:13to go and achieve even more excellence.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16Oh, I forgot!
0:54:20 > 0:54:23You know, when I was 12, I did very well in school.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26You know, I was a straight-A student until ninth grade
0:54:26 > 0:54:29and then, when I went to high school, I started travelling
0:54:29 > 0:54:31and then the grades - Bs -
0:54:31 > 0:54:34and then when I really started travelling, I, you know,
0:54:34 > 0:54:37I had Cs, even, which was unheard of for me,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40but...I was on the road so much.
0:54:40 > 0:54:41Hello. Oh, goodness.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Welcome. Would you like to come over here?
0:54:44 > 0:54:45- Yes, please.- Thank you.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Welcome, everybody. We're here today to mark the occasion
0:54:48 > 0:54:52of Martina Navratilova becoming an Honorary Fellow of our college.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56As it turned out, because when I was in the final year of high school,
0:54:56 > 0:54:59the final exams were during Wimbledon.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02I didn't go and then I left the country, then I defected,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04so I never graduated from high school.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Martina has said that the key thing is for women to set no limits.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11She's a fantastic advocate for women in sport
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and a motivational speaker about women in leadership.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Her tennis has delighted and inspired
0:55:17 > 0:55:18generations of tennis fans
0:55:18 > 0:55:22and she can still be seen playing at Wimbledon to this day
0:55:22 > 0:55:26in the Legends doubles, as she approaches her 60th birthday.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28LAUGHTER
0:55:28 > 0:55:30I, Martina Navratilova,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33elected an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37accept the purpose of this college, its statutes, ordinances...
0:55:37 > 0:55:39'For me to be getting this fellowship...'
0:55:39 > 0:55:42you know, only women that have, like,
0:55:42 > 0:55:46brilliant academic careers have that -
0:55:46 > 0:55:47that's pretty cool.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Pretty cool. I'm very humbled.
0:55:50 > 0:55:51Martina Navratilova,
0:55:51 > 0:55:54by the authority, and in the name of Lucy Cavendish College,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57I welcome you as an honorary fellow of the College.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59- Thank you very much.- Very nice to have you here, Martina.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03- Now...- And I also promise to always cheer for Cambridge over Oxford.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05LAUGHTER
0:56:05 > 0:56:07I was planning on graduating
0:56:07 > 0:56:09and becoming either an architect or an engineer,
0:56:09 > 0:56:13building something, and play tennis as long as I possibly could.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15I'm the fellow of mathematics.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17- Welcome.- Hello. Shona Wilson, biological scientist.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19I had a Plan A, which was school -
0:56:19 > 0:56:23Plan B was tennis, but then the Plan B, kind of, took over.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24I'm Jenny Gibson,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27university lecturer in psychology and education.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29- Are you profiling me right now?- Yep!
0:56:29 > 0:56:32LAUGHTER
0:56:32 > 0:56:35I usually just sign my first name, so I have to practise my last name.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37LAUGHTER
0:56:37 > 0:56:41She herself would make an intriguing subject.
0:56:41 > 0:56:43Rushing - always rushing -
0:56:43 > 0:56:46because there's so much to do.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49You've got two minutes to get these photos.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51Oh, really? No pressure, then.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53A little bit closer for the two of you, I think.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57We've already been looking like we're getting married, haven't we?
0:56:57 > 0:56:59I already have a ring.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01That's lovely.
0:57:01 > 0:57:02- That was great.- Brilliant.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04Thank you so much.
0:57:04 > 0:57:09'You always find something to fight for that you feel strongly about.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11'I've been fighting on many different fronts -
0:57:11 > 0:57:14'whether it's for kids, for animals, for the environment -
0:57:14 > 0:57:16'old people, as well.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19'People that basically can't help themselves - and, of course,'
0:57:19 > 0:57:20gay and lesbian rights,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23women's rights, I mean, we still have a long way to go.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Basically, the only people that have nothing to fight for are white men.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29Straight white men. They are all set.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31But if you're outside of that,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33you're an outsider.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36And there is a mountain to climb -
0:57:36 > 0:57:38it just depends on how high that mountain is -
0:57:38 > 0:57:40but there's a mountain to climb.
0:57:40 > 0:57:45'I do it in my time, in my pace, at my level.'
0:57:45 > 0:57:48You know, I hope that it makes a difference somewhere, on some level.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50There's always a fight.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55It's an appalling cliche
0:57:55 > 0:57:56and really disgraceful,
0:57:56 > 0:58:00but if anyone was going to have Sinatra's My Way sung
0:58:00 > 0:58:02at some lifetime-achievement award,
0:58:02 > 0:58:05it should be Martina. She really did do things her way.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Great. Go on. Let's get into the boat.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Has Martina changed?
0:58:13 > 0:58:16I think she's really enjoying being a mom.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19I think she's just having more experiences outside the tennis court
0:58:19 > 0:58:22that have made her just fuller, more of a full person.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25- OK. Push her out.- Ah!
0:58:25 > 0:58:29No, I don't want to go for a swim in this.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31'She's the greatest tennis player that ever lived.
0:58:31 > 0:58:32'You know, she's an inspiration.'
0:58:32 > 0:58:36And if I was an inspiration to her, she's certainly been one to me.
0:58:43 > 0:58:44I think she taught all of us
0:58:44 > 0:58:47how to be more comfortable in our own skin.
0:58:47 > 0:58:49Maybe SHE wasn't as comfortable but, you know what,
0:58:49 > 0:58:51she made us feel like she was.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56She showed a human dimension that was simply marvellous -
0:58:56 > 0:58:58to be so brilliant without being robotic.
0:58:58 > 0:59:01To be so technically perfect, so athletic
0:59:01 > 0:59:04and so wonderfully joyous when she won.
0:59:04 > 0:59:07And she gave sport everything, and it is a richer sport.
0:59:07 > 0:59:11And I think she enriches everything she touches.
0:59:11 > 0:59:14Thank you, girls. I passed the test?
0:59:14 > 0:59:17- Yeah!- Yeah!- When do you want to come for the next one?
0:59:17 > 0:59:19- LAUGHTER - I might do that.