Just Call Me Martina

Martina Navratilova - possibly the greatest tennis player of all time -

is turning 60 this year.

Together, we revisited her hometown.

Growing up in a communist country, you, kind of, did whatever it took.

Her earliest years are from an era that no longer exists.

No! That was right on the chalk! Come on!

In her youth, she was feisty.

You know, I want to play when I want and where I want.

Defecting to America - within four years, the world's best.

She transformed herself and there was a time no-one could beat her.

Game, set and match, Miss Navratilova.

-DAN MASKELL:

-And the dream has come true.

A pioneer, an activist, an icon,

but perhaps she has the best way of describing herself.

December 2014, New York City.

In a life of many fresh starts,

this is another.

SHE SIGHS

The calm before the storm.

Mary's got the rings, right?

-I have them.

-Holy shit.

# They're writing songs of love... #

She's a serve-volleyer, man.

She just serve-volleys. She knows herself.

She's like, "Go get 'em!

"Don't worry about the consequences.

"Worry about that later."

She's very well read.

She has an incredible memory.

She's good at maths, she's good at languages.

She's good at just about anything.

It reflects in her social media - what she tweets out, what she reads,

who she advocates for.

She's getting married and I'm single.

Go figure.

SHE LAUGHS

This is a friend of mine, Karen.

Jeannie Ash. Jeannie, have you met the Mayor?

You must have met.

At the age of 59,

Miss Navratilova is about to become Mrs Navratilova.

It's her wedding day.

She's marrying Julia Lemigova -

a businesswoman, a former Miss USSR,

a worried Julia.

I start thinking in three languages and it's...

It just sabotages me.

You are an extraordinary couple together -

a radiant couple, may I add?

Martina, thank you.

For so many years - and I may add, long before it was fashionable -

you stood up and you spoke up,

and we are eternally grateful for that.

Thank you.

'She's been a great fighter for people who are gay'

and she's helped to crusade for people... People's rights.

That's a very important thing to do,

especially when you're involved in sport and music and whatever.

Julia, I promise to love you,

to cherish you, in sickness and in health.

No matter what, I will be there for you and for our family.

I promise not to make the social media another member of our family.

LAUGHTER

I can just imagine how many girls growing up knowing they were gay

must have thought, "Thank God for her."

What an incredible example.

With this ring...

(..I thee wed.)

By the powers vested in me by the State of New York,

I pronounce you married.

You may embrace.

JULIA CHUCKLES

APPLAUSE

CHEERING

This is a wedding day with a message.

Same-sex marriages can take place in New York,

but not everywhere in America.

I got you. I got you.

We wanted to do it before the end of the year.

Didn't want to wait, but it wasn't legal in Florida,

so we had to do it somewhere else,

and it just made sense logistically, emotionally.

Julia, same thing for her -

she had some special times in New York City.

It just made sense.

She came up to me and said, "Hello, I'm Martina."

I said, "Hi, I'm Julia."

LAUGHTER

And that was the beginning...

of a beautiful friendship!

Thank you to be such a wonderful parent

to my girls - and your girls now -

and I love you so much.

And this is the most special day of my life.

APPLAUSE

'Cos we've been together for such a long time,

'but I thought the kids felt more secure within the relationship

'that it's validated and equal.'

For me, I felt so much more secure,

like you can't mess with my family any more,

you cannot tell me I'm less than - and it was huge.

That impact was bigger than I realised it would be.

So, here we are, celebrating being full-fledged members of society.

I know it's made a big difference for girls.

To all those people that might have a problem with same-sex marriage,

I say look at our family.

And I feel like most of my life is right in this room,

one way or the other. I just wish...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I wish my parents were here to see this,

but I know they're watching and soon now we have a new family,

so, thanks, everybody.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# And you can tell everybody

# This is your song

# It may be quite simple

# But now that it's done... #

'She's found her permanent doubles partner in life -

'as I'm sure is endlessly said'

at every tennis player's wedding!

But not mixed doubles, in her case.

# How wonderful life is

# Now you're in the world. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Goodbye.

-Bye!

-Bye.

All without a hitch, so to speak.

We got hitched without a hitch!

Mrs Navratilova.

I can't believe it.

So now Mum is a Mrs,

what do I call you now?

You call me Martina.

Martina was born in Czechoslovakia -

a country now split into Slovakia, and here, the Czech Republic.

And it's to Prague that I've come, to find out more.

We're going back in time, to an age when things were very different -

to days long before I got to know her on tour.

APPLAUSE

Martina's parents divorced when she was three.

Her mother left Prague with her two daughters

and they moved to a village 40 minutes away by train.

Revnice.

Martina, this is home, but this is the centre of the village.

Yes. This used to be cobblestoned, so riding a bicycle was, you know,

a bit of a precarious proposition.

The pub was there.

The grocery store was here,

but now there's extra stores, and some changed.

And the famous dentist. That's the window where he used to torture me.

There was bad energy,

because the dentist always used to give me a hard time.

"You need to stop eating candy." I'm like, "I don't like candy.

"I don't eat candy. I don't chew gum."

I wasn't doing any of the bad things.

And I still had bad teeth.

On the tennis courts, it's somebody else.

She even didn't like to practise.

Always, Father said, "Oh, you must do things, don't lay on the sofa."

She doesn't like to run. Imagine!

When she stops playing and at home, she is different.

Sensitive, playful.

You know, this is what I used to do when I was a kid - walk around.

That balance is still there, you see.

Not...

Not fall in.

But usually there was no water in there.

-Ooh.

-There we go.

-Somebody turned the fountain on.

For all the sense of fun, this was a childhood spent

in post-Second World War Czechoslovakia.

Europe behind the Iron Curtain.

Growing up in a communist country,

you just, kind of, did whatever it took.

You know, you told a bad political joke and you would go to jail.

But, you know, the childhood, up to when I left, at 18,

I had a fantastic life here.

In the summer, we swam in the river.

In the winter, we skated on it.

You know, climb people's fences and steal their cherries and walnuts.

THEY LAUGH

But you really couldn't buy fruit. They were very expensive.

They were more expensive per pound or per kilo than the best meat.

She was just a little, bouncy, happy child,

with very exceptional physical capabilities.

I remember, I think we went to the local river

and suddenly this little girl took a little pebble

and she threw it as far as we could and we said,

"Wow. I mean, this is quite amazing."

My uncle, who was quite a tennis player,

he said, "Yeah, she's an absolutely amazing kid.

"I have never seen one like that."

And I think they were tired of him a little bit.

He was saying, "She's going to win Wimbledon before she's 20."

He really believed in her.

My mum was a great athlete.

I mean, she could have done anything she wanted to.

And she played volleyball, she ran track, she was very fast.

She could have been a great tennis player.

But she encouraged it in me, and then, I'm like,

"OK, world, here I come!" And I was, like, ten.

It's a lovely setting.

And Karlstejn, which is a famous castle - that's maybe five miles

as the crow flies - and that's a big tourist attraction.

That's King Charles.

He built the castle for his mistress.

Those were the days.

THEY LAUGH

The courts are great. The middle one is where I hit my first ball

on a real court.

Then, this one was the first time I put my feet together on the serve.

Ah.

I was right here. Our clubhouse is pretty much the same.

I kissed my first boyfriend - no, second boyfriend - right there.

In the clubhouse, in the locker room.

Whatever the attractions,

it was here Martina first began entering the record books.

This is when I won the Czech Championships

and then, like, two weeks later,

I won the Junior Championship, growing up.

And even then, you're on tiptoes trying to be taller.

Yeah, I was just so short.

And this was the women's part.

-Right.

-It still is women.

So, damy - dames.

So this is where I was snogging with my boyfriend, right here.

-Right here.

-SUE LAUGHS

-And still the original locker doors.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Oh, no.

-Who...? Oh, that's Jana?

-That's my sister.

-Oh!

-That's my sister's locker, yeah. I was in the corner there.

Do you come back here much?

I come two, three times a year, yeah.

So, now that my sister lives here again, the last three years,

and every time I come back I hang out, yeah.

By the time she was 14,

Martina was too good for the local club,

and so began her travels in tennis.

First stop, not so very far away -

the Sparta Prague club.

Here she met the Czech star of the day,

the 1973 Wimbledon champion, Jan Kodes.

As the number one in Czech,

there was many people around here, you know,

watching my practice, and so on.

Martina's father always come to me and says,

"Hey, Jan, Martina is going to play on court for practice -

"I like that you look at how she's playing." And I said,

"Mirek, she shouldn't come to the net that often.

"She should be more careful and prepare the approach much better."

And he said, "Don't worry about it.

"I think it's very good that she comes to the net,

"because she will have something what the other girls never have.

"Every girl can play from the baseline,

"but if she learn to play on the net,

"she's going to be extraordinary."

And later it become true!

I would hit for an hour

and then we'd take the tram back to the train station

and that was the routine, you know.

I could, literally, hear the train coming and I'd start running

and I could still catch it.

Going back and forth by tram,

train, and on the back of the family motorbike,

these were days of innocence that suddenly stopped.

August, 1968. The Soviet response to the reform programme

of Alexander Dubcek's government.

Do you regard your country as having been invaded this morning?

It was an invasion, yes.

Where do you think Mr Dubcek is?

-He appears to have vanished.

-He's still in office.

The Prague Spring was over.

There was a picture in there with the girl that I was with

when the Russian tanks came.

I was in Pilsen, playing a junior tournament.

I got there Thursday night,

Friday we were supposed to go play tennis.

And Friday morning, her father called us and said -

at eight in the morning - he says, "Don't go outside, there's tanks."

So, of course, we went outside,

and by then, we saw the tanks everywhere, the roads were torn up,

there was tanks everywhere, scouring the countryside.

The Russians move around like strangers from another world,

patrolling the streets by day and night

and digging their roots even deeper into Czechoslovak soil.

The Czechoslovaks watch their expansion grimly

and react with the only workable attitude in this unreal situation.

An attitude of silent defiance.

It was just an amazing sadness going on in the country

because, under Dubcek, we were feeling that, you know,

we might...not have capitalism,

but not communism, either -

just kind of...we could breathe,

we could travel, we could start your own business.

There was a hope for having more freedoms - personal freedoms.

And that was quashed.

The change was coming from the top, but they didn't like it,

so they sent 600,000 soldiers, with tanks.

The army was told to stand down, by the government,

because we knew they had no chance.

I think we can relate to one another because of the past that we had.

In my case, growing up in a war-torn country,

people would stand in line to get a piece of bread or just, you know,

one bottle of milk and, you know,

they would live on it for weeks,

so it's not kind of experience that you wish for anybody to go through,

but I'm sure that Martina would agree

that those experiences have helped us to get tougher

and get hungrier for the success.

It's hard, you know, to understand what it was like,

coming from a communist country, of how difficult it is to get out.

Well, that was the tricky bit.

-Yeah.

-Again, if I didn't get all the way to the top,

I wouldn't have gotten the visa to get out of the country, so you...

Was that added motivation, in a way?

Yes, absolutely.

I knew this was a way out, for me, of the country.

It might be thought she was born at the wrong time -

to be born in a totalitarian state.

But where she was born and how she was born

and her sexual identity

gave her some of this extraordinary internal energy

to fight, fight, fight.

And if you'd taken that away from her -

if exactly the same genetic package that is Martina

had been born 30 years later

and grown up after the Velvet Revolution

in what would then be the Czech Republic -

would she have the same fight in her tennis game?

What really helped the travel plans - Martina's escape plans -

was being national champion at the age of 17

and leading Czechoslovakia to victory in the Federation Cup.

To compete in the international team event,

you couldn't stay put behind the Iron Curtain.

You had to travel

and Martina found herself travelling back and forth to America.

It just felt so luxurious

and easy and free.

The Western culture was very much craved here.

And we would listen to ABBA and Diana Ross and Neil Diamond,

Elton John, of course.

So, you brought a bit of that back.

And brought tapes, cassettes.

She goes, "I want to be number one in the world and the only way

"I can become number one in the world is if I live over here,

"train over here and have the freedom

"to train the way that I want to

"and make the choices that I want to."

I remember studying English,

and there was a picture of the Empire State Building,

and I was telling my roommate,

"I'm going there next year.

"I'm going to be in New York."

So, I was the bee's knees,

cos I was going to get out of the country and go to New York City.

It was something special in our country -

communist country -

it was like to travel to the moon now.

# Have you been an un-American?

# Just you and your idol singing falsetto 'bout

# Leather, leather everywhere and... #

Well, I think it was a culture shock for her

when she came over to America,

and she was like a kid in a candy store.

# All night

# She wants the young American... #

I first met Martina when she was 17,

and you could tell right away she was going to be, like, number one,

if she put her mind to it.

At the beginning,

when she first got to America,

all she did was eat and have fun

and tried to be more American than Americans.

She was eating pancakes and hamburgers

and her diet was a bit off.

But she had NO luxuries in Prague, Czechoslovakia,

and she went wild for a little bit.

# Young American

# Young American... #

You enjoyed everything in America, it was well documented.

You put on quite a few pounds?

I put on so much weight the first two weeks,

I had to buy shorts in Dallas.

The second week on tour, I had to buy me a new pair of shorts

because I couldn't fit into my normal clothes.

So when Olga Morozova saw me the third tournament, she...

First she didn't say anything. She just went...

This is what she did to me, instead of saying hello -

she just blew up her cheeks.

Great. I thought I just looked more feminine, you know?

Because all my muscles were disappearing.

I had little female curves

and, you know, I'd have two hamburgers for lunch

and two scoops of ice cream.

Breakfast, I would have eggs AND bacon AND pancakes

AND cereal.

I never had cereal growing up,

never had pancakes growing up, so I just got heavy.

I put on 20 pounds in two weeks.

That's hard to do when you're playing tennis.

Living the good life

was hardly going to please the regime back home.

To compete in the major tournaments

in the summer of 1975, she'd need a new visa.

Her father come to me and says, "Jan, you know,

"the Federation wants to stop Martina to go to the US Open.

"Could you help?"

I went to the Minister of Sports, you know, and I said,

"You cannot do this.

"And if you stop her for now, what is going to happen in the future?"

Imagine you want to go play the Italian -

"Oh, no, we're not going to give you the visas,

"because you're too Americanised."

And then, I thought I cannot be in this limbo forever.

And so, that's why I left.

So...

-Who did you discuss that with? Or was it...?

-My dad.

My dad knew that I was probably going to stay

-and he said, "Don't tell Mum."

-Wow.

-"If you go, don't come back."

But did he encourage you or did he just say...?

Oh, he just said, you know,

"That's the only choice you have, if you really want to play."

So, I didn't tell Mum.

She was calling from the United States and I told her on the phone,

"Don't come back. Even if they will tell you anything, don't come back."

Because they would put her to prison, of course.

She was already a famous tennis player

and those who tried to defect, or defected, they always got prison.

That was a bold, brave move.

I don't think I could have done that.

I know I couldn't have done that -

to be distanced from my family, and she...

I remember asking her, "What about your family?"

She goes, "I don't know when I'll ever see them."

Once, after I lost to Chris in the semis at the US Open,

the next day I went to

the Immigration and Naturalization Service,

and the next morning it was in the paper already.

They told me not to say anything,

but the next morning it's in the Washington Post,

that a famous tennis player defected.

My goal in my life is to become number one.

You know, I want to play as much as I can and...

..when I want and where I want.

And I didn't get this chance while being under the Czech government.

Have you been thinking about this move for a long while?

Well, I've been thinking about it, you know, for a long time,

but I never really thought that I would do it.

I thought I might, you know,

get married some day and maybe live in the States,

but I seriously started thinking about it

about a couple of weeks ago.

In the communist country, when somebody left the country,

or somebody of your family

was politically active against communists,

so the rest of the family somehow suffered.

Kids couldn't go to school,

or people lost their jobs,

they lost their house,

so people didn't talk to us.

They didn't want to be friends with us any more because Martina was bad,

like they wrote very badly about her in newspapers,

that she left the country and...

I left the country,

because I had some problems with the director of the school,

who actually told me that she is a shame for the nation,

that there is no place for me at university

and show me the door and say, "There you go."

When people ask me, "What are your regrets?"

I said I regret that I had to do that.

That I had to leave my family.

I had to leave my, you know, home country

and leave everything behind.

It was like she died.

It was so sad, you can't imagine it.

I admire her courage, because she was number one, OK,

she had money after that,

but to be alone, and she was 17, 18 years old.

I was a little bit scared for her, because I knew she was immature.

She was 18-year-old kid and she...

I was wondering whether she'll be able to handle it,

and that was one thing - she was able to find good people

to give her good advice.

Professional tennis in the 1970s

was in the throes of a capitalist makeover.

Players were forming their own tours,

pushing against the old order.

They were pushing themselves

and Martina soon spotted who were the best - and why.

I think when we went down to the practice courts,

with the likes of Harry Hopman and the Australians that, you know,

I think Martina recognised that...

why we were winning.

It was because we were fitter.

Martina, she was young and was getting through the matches,

but as she climbed up the ladder

and got into the quarterfinals and semifinals

and then winning some matches,

that gives you the experience and the determination to say,

"Hey, I'm here to play and I'm here to win."

MUSIC: Popcorn by Hot Butter

Chris Evert was an early friend and doubles partner.

CHEERING

Together, they won Wimbledon in 1976.

A Grand Slam title, to add to the doubles they'd won

at the French Open the year before.

In singles, the friend was a rival.

The core and the essence of Martina hasn't changed.

She is calmer, I think.

As she gets older, she bloss... I think we're both late bloomers.

I think that tennis bit,

when you're in such an intense, competitive environment,

it's not conducive to growing, necessarily, as a person.

Martina's breakthrough moment came in the Wimbledon final of 1978.

She would become champion and world number one

for the first time.

I turned 16 during that championship

and I just remember the joy

of her winning her first major.

Who knew that it would be the first of 18?

I was happy that, even though I had lost in the middle weekend,

that I stayed to watch her defeat Chrissy,

live and in person,

because in such an early part of MY playing career,

it was important to see that kind of match in person.

-Yeah!

-CHEERING

That's it. She's won it.

If we wanted to see her on the TV,

we had to go to Pilsen, close to the border to the West,

and we had some friends and they showed German TV.

So we could see her playing on the TV.

Czech TV didn't show it.

They would show until I started winning

and then they wouldn't show it.

That's how people knew I was in the finals -

when they didn't show the final.

When I lost early, then they showed the final.

They would write about the tournament

and then, kind of, ignore my half of the draw.

And when I got to the finals, they stopped talking about it.

That's how people knew I was winning,

when there was nothing in the paper.

You know, she was playing

and we were very nervous, it was terrible.

Mamma had to take a cognac.

Father, a little brandy.

You know. And after a match, "Hah!"

Mrs Jana Navratilova hadn't seen her daughter

since she defected to the West four years ago.

But today, she was able to watch her daughter

as she played her opening match on the Centre Court,

in defence of the title she won last year.

Permission was finally granted,

when the All England Club contacted

the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia.

It's like long-lost daughter or son coming from war, almost.

At some point, we didn't even know

if we would ever see each other again,

and it's... It all happened so quickly, that we really didn't...

Neither one of us was really hoping to get it done,

but when it finally happened, it was just very thrilling,

you know, you can't really describe it.

It's four years since you last saw her in the flesh.

-Four and a half.

-How has she changed?

-She is now very...

-Skinny.

-..skinny.

And for me, is very, very beautiful.

Mrs Navratilova, nice picture together.

Having eaten on arrival in America,

Martina was now burning up the calories.

This was a new regime

of mental strength and fitness.

By the late '70s, early '80s,

we were ready to talk about nutrition and working out

and weights and all that - and with her physique,

she was just perfect to really push the game forward.

Just getting more information about nutrition

and how to cross-train more, Martina was amazing.

Every week, she'd always want to lift weights

at least once, to maintain.

# Let's get physical... #

This was taking the women's game

into a new dimension - a new domination.

Even amongst the best sportsmen and women,

there are very few people who can come back year after year

to take the top prizes again and again.

I guess I started the fitness craze, you know,

in that I started working out off the court.

I didn't just do my training on the court,

I did other sports.

And so, I guess I was the pioneer in that,

while everything got more technical and technological.

# Physical, physical... #

By the mid-1980s, she was totally dominant...

..winning six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles.

Do you have any advice to young people watching Record Breakers,

who would like to be the best in the world?

First of all, do your best.

That's number... That goes without saying.

You know, you can't slouch off

and expect for things to fall into your lap -

you have to give it your best effort.

I agree with her there.

She's right on the money. And, boy, was she fit!

My generation were the transition generation,

from amateur to professional tennis - we had both.

And then, the second generation is your Chris and Martina,

and so, the first generation was so lucky

to have the second generation.

They were true superstars.

Martina and Chris had the greatest rivalry in the sport, ever.

If they had been men, they would talk about it constantly.

Martina and Chris were that exceptional.

At their peak, they met in 14 Grand Slam finals.

Former doubles partners,

locked into an individual rivalry

that spanned more than a decade.

I appreciated her for what she did for women's tennis

and what she did for my game,

which was to lift the level -

and she appreciated me, I think, to have as a rival.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

We were lucky we had those two players.

They made a huge difference.

If we didn't have them, I don't know if we still would have a WTA tour.

They competed and they're trying to be friends and then they aren't,

because Chris cannot be friends when you're competing.

She told me that when I was a player.

She said, "Billie, I can't be your friend.

"Can we wait until my career is over?" Go.

-That's it. She's won it.

-Game, set and match, Miss Navratilova.

1979, four years after her defection,

she was able to win Wimbledon in front of her mother.

Sometimes, it seemed she was one of the few Martina fans.

I was asked somewhere to list my heroes and I included Martina.

And one of the reasons was simply

the joy and excitement she gave me in tennis -

a new kind of thrill -

and also knowing that a lot of British people

didn't want her to win.

APPLAUSE

Of course, when you're playing against a crowd favourite

that has the majority of the support in the stadium,

you have to accept that as a reality and a fact.

You know, in those circumstances,

those are the opportunities for you to grow your character strengths.

I'm sure that those kind of experiences also made her tougher.

That's it.

You know, I think the beauty of our rivalry

is that specific point that we were so different, you know?

And even at a young age, I was American,

she was from a communist country.

Quiet, please, ladies and gentlemen.

Very emotional on the court and I was cool and calm,

and she was a serve-volleyer, aggressive,

and I was a baseliner.

And so she brought her set of fans to the matches

and I brought my set of fans to the matches

and, you know, that's why I think it was so interesting,

because of the contrast.

It's out, that's it.

Game, set and championship, Miss Navratilova.

We were very opposite, but deep down

there is a sense of compassion when the other one lost.

After we retired, we could just shake off

any sort of competitiveness, jealousy,

negative feeling that we had,

and we could just totally appreciate each other as just human beings,

not only as tennis players.

I think it's great that, at 31 years old,

you're still winning these types of awards. I think it's great.

Are you going to retire soon or let us have a chance?

Well, first you have to retire.

-You're older than I am, don't you remember?

-I am?

At least a year.

They always got along better than people think.

Roller coaster - but, look now, they're great friends.

Since you haven't won too many awards this year,

only the two biggest tournaments

in the world - Wimbledon and the US Open -

I'd like to present this BBC Television

Overseas Sports Personality Award to you.

I think it's very merited.

From one personality to another, thanks.

We went back to Czechoslovakia when she was an American citizen,

and I witnessed that whole scene, which was incredible.

The media were there in force for

a homecoming that was been stoically ignored by the Czech authorities.

Some journalists carried photographs

to make sure they'd recognise the world's number one tennis player

when she appeared from the customs hall.

It was the first time that Navratilova had seen her family

in 11 years.

But what she might have hoped would be a touching moment

became a scramble to force her way through the arrivals lounge

at Prague Airport.

She was a non-person,

meaning the American team led by Chris Evert,

Pam Shriver, Zina Garrison,

but there's no mention of Martina, at all

in any sort of newspaper, etc.

We go out and the American team is introduced

and I looked in the corner of my eye over at the balcony,

where all the officials were -

the government officials -

and they just sat in their chair and didn't respond -

didn't clap, didn't stand up.

They just were, you know, poker face and just looking at the scene.

The fans LOVE her.

Got more of a standing ovation

then Jana Novotna and Hana Mandlikova

and, you know, Helena Sukova,

who were the Czechoslovakian team.

It was a delightful surprise,

let's put it that way,

for everybody who went over there partaking in this match.

The public embrace of Martina returning back to her homeland,

returning as one of the great champions of the sport of tennis -

seeing the public embrace was incredible.

Welcomed - back home and in America,

where her parents defected to join her.

Finally, acceptance of her

and acceptance BY her of her own feelings.

I really didn't figure it out

until I had my first relationship with a woman.

When it did happen, I'm like, "Oh, that's what it was!"

You know, because I've had these crushes,

but I didn't recognise them

as anything but just crushes on adults, you know?

I had crushes on men, as well.

But they were definitely stronger on women.

My dad asked, you know,

"We think that you're living as a man and a woman" -

with this woman that I was with, and I always said, if they ask me,

I will tell them, so that's exactly what happened.

You know, five years after I'd been with a woman,

they asked, and I said, yes,

and then all hell, kind of, broke loose, but...

You know, Dad said some things that he wished that he hadn't said,

but he didn't know.

Again, people really didn't know any better.

We never stopped talking or anything, but there was a tension,

and then my dad, he educated himself,

he read some books, and he says,

"You know, I realise now it had nothing to do with you or me.

"It's just, this is who you are and it's OK.

"I just want you to be happy."

And that's all you want from your parents - and this is 30 years ago.

You talk about your family coming over.

Did you buy them a separate house,

because you wanted to protect them from finding out?

Well, no.

I needed the space on my own,

even if I had been married with a man,

I still would have wanted that separate house, you know.

I'm an adult now and, you know, the parents live next door, not...

I mean, they live, like, three houses down.

So, at the end, it was all only about me being happy,

and does the person I'm with treat me well?

But her private life would be played out in public.

There were televised lawsuits.

Breaking up was hard enough,

but this was suffering in the glare of exposure.

The emotional toll was obvious,

the financial cost revealed for all to see.

What was not so clear -

the costs of being openly gay.

I knew it would cost me on many levels.

What I didn't realise

is how much it would cost me in fan support.

That was a very negative thing,

from the fans' standpoint, I mean.

-From crowd reaction or from letters?

-Yes, crowd reaction.

Letters, crowd reaction, response to when I was...

When I would come on the court.

When I started winning, it really... Being gay and winning,

I think it was too threatening, you know?

It was OK to be gay as long as I was losing,

but when I started dominating,

somehow I had an "unfair advantage".

I don't know how!

Financially, it would have cost you a lot.

I didn't lose any deals, but I didn't get any new deals,

let's put it that way.

I had my shoes, rackets and clothing contracts always

and then, when I started winning, the money was better.

But did I ever get paid as much as Chris for the same deals?

I doubt it. And I certainly didn't get any outside deals

for, you know, Wheaties.

All right, here we go, it's nice and quiet.

Let's roll sound, roll camera,

set and action.

The world is about challenging yourself more than anyone else.

-And cut. That was beautiful.

-All right. I'm cutting there.

-Was it breathy enough?

-That was breathy enough, that was good.

'The good thing for Martina, which I was very happy about,'

is she was able to keep playing.

Here we go. We are set.

By doing that, the LGBT community

had a champion who was still playing,

which was thrilled.

You know, she's one of our - I call women sheroes.

It comes from her passion. As a player, she was passionate

and she still is, and that comes from within.

I mean, two people I can think of are Billie Jean and Martina

that have that passion.

They're still as passionate now -

more passionate - because of a few humanitarian things,

as well as tennis.

She voices her opinion, even if it's controversial,

even if it goes against the norm or the grain,

and probably made some mistakes,

but I think better to be that way than never to say anything.

Like me!

Hello. I'm Martina Navratilova.

Former number one in the world.

Come and have a chat with me about conquering the world.

I'll do it again.

-I think that was great. That was perfect. That was it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

'She's very good company. She has a very dry sense of humour

'and her eyes hold you.

'I sat next to her at Wimbledon and I was her guest -'

she very kindly invited me to stand in for her wife,

so I was her temporary wife.

She's the kind of person - a bit like Bob Dylan -

that you just don't want to get in their bad books.

You don't want them to give you a look of, "Who are you?"

She's got real presence.

I think she loves the sport

because, even a couple of years ago,

I saw her on the tournaments

and practising a lot.

I think that's been part of her compass in life,

is the great sport of tennis,

but she certainly is ageing gracefully

and, you know, now to see her

in a marriage partnership with Julia,

it's just another amazing stage of this incredible woman.

THEY SING

I guess warm people attract warm people.

Well, she's Russian.

Who knew that a Czech and a Russian would get along this well?

It didn't go so well back in the '60s, but here we are,

and for many reasons, it's emotional -

the impossibility of even thinking that you will get married,

you know, growing up as a gay woman.

And Julia, we meet and she has kids

and we just become a family,

and everybody's happy that we're happy, so it's great.

Relaxing - perhaps the secret

behind one of the most successful partnerships in professional tennis.

I always said, while we played,

one of the reasons why our partnership lasted so long

is we actually did not spend that much time together

away from the courts.

So when we were together,

it was really pretty fresh and fun.

From July 1983 to June 1985,

Martina and Pam won every Grand Slam doubles.

In total, they were undefeated in 109 matches.

Everybody has a lucky break,

I believe, in life - in their business life,

in their personal life - she was my lucky break.

There were others, but mostly with Pam,

Martina won more doubles titles than singles.

I remember telling her at 17,

"You're going to be the greatest player ever."

I always thought she was the best singles, doubles and mixed player

ever to have lived, up to this time.

I think Serena might do better,

but most of them don't want to play doubles and mixed,

like our generations.

Well, it's tough, no, because in terms of timings and the schedule,

it's difficult to play mixed and doubles,

because to adjust and be 100% focused in one thing

if you have to compete in three different tournaments, no,

so it's amazing all the things that she did

and she is one of the most important stars

in the world of tennis for a long time.

Maybe Martina forever will be

the best singles, doubles and mixed player to have ever lived.

She's such an all-around great athlete.

This year's Lifetime Achievement winner is Martina Navratilova.

In 2003, she equalled Billie Jean King's haul of Wimbledon titles -

20.

Each one has its own story.

When I was playing with Martina at Wimbledon in 2003 in the summer,

and as I jumped up for a smash, the lights went out.

But it wasn't really the lights went out,

because you're playing in broad daylight,

but it was I lost my vision.

And I had the presence of mind

to cover my head with my hands to protect myself,

and I came down like a ton of bricks.

And when Martina came to me and she tapped me on the head,

she realised I was burning up with fever.

Well, I did not want to tell her that I was playing with 104.3 fever,

I did not want to tell her

that I had this thumping headache for 48 hours

and I wasn't feeling good, at all,

because I knew she wouldn't let me play.

So, I persevered through it and we won Wimbledon.

But the next morning,

I went back to Florida and I was diagnosed with a tumour in my head

and I was very lucky that it wasn't something permanent.

I think you'll be surprised

to see the person walking out here with the trophy.

You don't know he's here,

but he wanted to be a part of your celebration -

-it is your mixed-doubles partner, Leander Paes.

-Are you kidding?!

APPLAUSE

'I'm very emotional about Martina.'

'Martina is just someone

'that's not just a champion of tennis,

'but she's a champion of life.

'When I was in hospital, my 9pm phone call was always her.'

I just feel that I'm a blessed man

to have Martina as one of my best friends.

I think you'll be back next year, won't you?

I'll definitely be here, whether I'm playing or not. But I'll be here.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well done to Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova!

She would play on.

Three years after this, she'd win her last major title -

the mixed doubles at the US Open,

a month short of her 50th birthday.

Martina - more appreciated with each passing year,

with each passing tear.

At home in America, at home here on the green grass of Wimbledon,

and in the homeland she so dramatically left as a teenager.

Now a citizen of two countries -

America and, since 2008,

the Czech Republic.

So, she can easily relive her Prague childhood -

every last bit of it.

At least you can trust your dentist.

I hope so!

Severely testing family love,

the dentist here is her younger sister, Jana.

She's laughing.

She's a sadist.

She's really going to enjoy this.

What was I thinking?

-WHIRRING

-Ah!

No, no, no, no. That's not funny.

'She loves reading a book, eating - she loves to eat.'

She's always very happy when I cook for her and I always ask her,

"What do you want? What should I make for you when you come?"

And she says, "Oh, do you have something sweet?"

"Could you do me a palatschinke?" -

it's a crepe she like. And then she relax and is happy.

LAUGHTER

We're going to go for lunch now.

Test the teeth out.

See you later. Bye.

Her hometown has changed over the years, but not much.

There are still no traffic lights, yet it's home.

And somewhere, she can share a cake or two

with the girl she first sat beside in school.

-And their family lived in there?

-Yeah, they never moved.

I mean, that was their house.

And I think if my parents had not moved to the States for a year,

we would still be in that house.

Instead of, you know, where my sister is now.

Was that sad for your parents,

-to come back and not go back into their house?

-Yeah.

Yeah, it was difficult,

because it was not just a matter of...emotions,

but it was a matter of inconvenience,

because it was difficult to find a house

and they wanted to live in this town.

My dad called and said, you know,

"We found a place", so I sent him 50,000,

they bought the house and that was that.

But they were just lucky that they were able to even get it.

So, this building was...

-That's the Sokol, so the gym is in this building here.

-What's Sokol?

Sokol, he was the guy that started these clubs for exercise.

And fitness has always been a major part of your life.

Raising two kids in America,

you have to be, you know, there's so many...

Yes. Julia was always very strict with the kids,

you know, very natural, healthy lifestyle.

TRANSLATION:

-Could you hear her chewing?

-Yes, I could hear her chewing.

Somebody I know bought them chewing gum.

-I never buy them chewing gum.

-I didn't buy them chewing gum.

Do I need to be the police and check everything you do?

-We don't allow you to use...

-It was in the candy.

-You allow us to chew.

-No.

-No.

In the States it's a little more difficult,

because there is just so much junk food out there,

but we prepare their lunches

and they get a soft drink

maybe four times a year, you know.

So, we restrict them, but they like it

because they realise that it's better for them as well.

Especially the older one, you know -

she's 14 now, so she has to be careful with her skin,

so it's a little bit easier, but they're good kids.

-They're easy.

-And they're at the Chris Evert Academy.

And right now, they're both at Chris Evert's Academy.

Go figure! How funny is that?

Do you have to get a pass to go in there?

Chris gives me a really good deal. So, life is funny.

How would you feel if one of them wanted to play tennis?

I'd love it. I mean, I'm certainly not pushing them into it,

but if they want it and they love it, it's great.

When you think about what you had to go through as a kid now,

and how lucky, you know, they are

in just being able to go to the Academy.

It's different.

Well, yeah, life is complicated

and it's difficult in different ways,

but, yeah, I had a great life here, you know?

OK, so I only had one pair of tennis shoes

and I only had two pairs of pants

but, you know, like I said, I was never hungry,

I was never cold, so life is good.

A breast cancer scare in 2010

motivated Martina to campaign and encourage women

to have regular check-ups.

Mine was four years in between and I didn't realise it at the time.

I just, kind of, put it off.

I moved, so I changed doctors,

and I'm like, I'll do it, you know, next spring,

and then the next thing you know, you're in Australia

and you still haven't done it.

And so, it might have not turned into anything.

It was DCIS, but it can become cancer.

It can spread and it's risky, obviously,

and it was terrifying.

Well, when I heard she had cancer,

it was a tough one for me, because I lost a sister to cancer,

I lost my first husband to cancer and I lost my dad to cancer.

So, when it happened,

we didn't speak about it all that much.

I didn't offer to be that close support

and I did it, basically, because, you know,

I haven't had the most positive experience.

But she's, sort of, a close...

You know, she's an example of a close friend that I can say,

"Hey, I have somebody really close to me that is positive,

"has a positive result."

It's life. And it's...

I don't think Martina thinks like this.

She doesn't think it's a pity for her or something, you know.

She's going on and doing things,

so she doesn't think, "Oh, I am sick."

I don't think so.

I knew the diagnosis of the illness,

so I had good hope

and I knew that she will recover,

so I knew it, so to say.

So I was happy when everything was over, yeah.

'It's just in God's hands and the surgeon, and fate or whatever.'

You just, kind of, hope and, you know, it's been five years.

SHE KNOCKS

Yeah. And it's an important lesson that we all...

-That we've all learned from that.

-Absolutely.

You decided you wanted to talk about it, confront it,

and show how to deal with it.

Well, again, it's like being in the closet about something.

So when I first knew what I had,

and I had to have surgery, I didn't talk about it -

I thought, "I don't want to go public!"

But then when I really found out more about what happened to me,

why I had it, what I had,

how important it was to get those yearly checkups,

I'm like, "I can't keep this quiet."

I, kind of, felt that I had a duty to speak out,

to encourage women to have that yearly check-up.

'She's incredibly hard-working.

'When we were doing one of our early French Opens,

'we were fully prepared to fill in for her

'whatever she needed, of course.

'She said, "Don't be silly, I'm going to work."'

She would do her treatment in the morning

before coming to the tournament,

then broadcast the tournament

and then go out and practise,

because she was going to play in the Legends tournament at the end -

and won it.

She has the world's biggest heart

and she has - ironically - very little, if any, ego.

It's remarkable.

She's not a tough gal, by any stretch.

She's got a very dry sense of humour,

and she's also fearless and adventurous.

-So, Julia Lemigova...

-No, it's not happening.

Please marry me.

Please marry me.

I don't care how times you've won on that court,

to propose to somebody, in effect, live,

in front of millions of people,

it is a great reflection of who Martina is.

You say yes?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Hey, kids

# Shake it loose together

# The spotlight's hitting something

# That's been known to change the weather

# We'll kill the fatted calf tonight

# So stick around... #

When you see her in action on the court

and then you see her in action off the court,

fighting her cause and sticking up for people

and trying to change the world, it brings a smile to your face.

I can't tell you how much that means

to me and to millions of other people.

# B-B-B-Benny and the Jets... #

You know, you really can't compare eras,

because if Steffi was growing up now,

she would have a different backhand and different strokes,

I would have different strokes.

I think that Steffi's slice would have given everybody...

Well, it gave me fits, and I like low-bouncing balls.

-I think the...

-Who doesn't?

LAUGHTER

I thought you liked 'em high!

Anyway, be that as it may.

I'm actually playing doubles with her, which is quite frightening

because I'm not a great net player

and she insists that I get up to the net,

so she's terrifying to play with.

You're playing alongside

probably the greatest female tennis player of all time

and, you know...it's one thing singing in front of people,

but it's another thing having to perform with that kind of greatness.

Team Elton John taking on Team Billie Jean King.

CHEERING

The fact that she's still playing pretty damn good

at nearly 60 years of age

is quite remarkable.

You know, I've had the luck

to have watched her up close,

to have seen her many victories at Wimbledon

and throughout the world, and just be astonished

that the fact she loves the game so much.

I love people who keep going and have the passion,

and I still feel the same -

I'll be 69 next birthday, but I have as much enthusiasm now

as I did when I was 20,

and I think you could say the same of Martina.

So, when Martina talks to athletes and talks to ordinary people,

I think she has a good effect on them.

# Benny, Benny, Benny

# Benny, Benny and the Jets... #

From Vegas to Cambridge,

from bright lights to light blues,

a champion of lawn tennis playing the oldest version of the game...

..real tennis.

She is about to become

an Honorary Fellow of a Cambridge college.

The college is called Lucy Cavendish.

This is very different from the journey she began

as a young tennis player in Czechoslovakia.

Game. 2-0.

She's like an absolute legend.

I know.

Oh! My family are going to be so jealous.

I told my sisters - they were just like,

"What? How is this even possible?"

So it's a different bounce to what you're used to.

I think it's really good

to have someone like that promoting women's sport.

I think it's something that's growing massively at the moment,

and to have someone like her come along,

it's just obviously really encouraging.

I think that will only spur people on

to go and achieve even more excellence.

Oh, I forgot!

You know, when I was 12, I did very well in school.

You know, I was a straight-A student until ninth grade

and then, when I went to high school, I started travelling

and then the grades - Bs -

and then when I really started travelling, I, you know,

I had Cs, even, which was unheard of for me,

but...I was on the road so much.

Hello. Oh, goodness.

Welcome. Would you like to come over here?

-Yes, please.

-Thank you.

Welcome, everybody. We're here today to mark the occasion

of Martina Navratilova becoming an Honorary Fellow of our college.

As it turned out, because when I was in the final year of high school,

the final exams were during Wimbledon.

I didn't go and then I left the country, then I defected,

so I never graduated from high school.

Martina has said that the key thing is for women to set no limits.

She's a fantastic advocate for women in sport

and a motivational speaker about women in leadership.

Her tennis has delighted and inspired

generations of tennis fans

and she can still be seen playing at Wimbledon to this day

in the Legends doubles, as she approaches her 60th birthday.

LAUGHTER

I, Martina Navratilova,

elected an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College,

accept the purpose of this college, its statutes, ordinances...

'For me to be getting this fellowship...'

you know, only women that have, like,

brilliant academic careers have that -

that's pretty cool.

Pretty cool. I'm very humbled.

Martina Navratilova,

by the authority, and in the name of Lucy Cavendish College,

I welcome you as an honorary fellow of the College.

-Thank you very much.

-Very nice to have you here, Martina.

-Now...

-And I also promise to always cheer for Cambridge over Oxford.

LAUGHTER

I was planning on graduating

and becoming either an architect or an engineer,

building something, and play tennis as long as I possibly could.

I'm the fellow of mathematics.

-Welcome.

-Hello. Shona Wilson, biological scientist.

I had a Plan A, which was school -

Plan B was tennis, but then the Plan B, kind of, took over.

I'm Jenny Gibson,

university lecturer in psychology and education.

-Are you profiling me right now?

-Yep!

LAUGHTER

I usually just sign my first name, so I have to practise my last name.

LAUGHTER

She herself would make an intriguing subject.

Rushing - always rushing -

because there's so much to do.

You've got two minutes to get these photos.

Oh, really? No pressure, then.

A little bit closer for the two of you, I think.

We've already been looking like we're getting married, haven't we?

I already have a ring.

That's lovely.

-That was great.

-Brilliant.

Thank you so much.

'You always find something to fight for that you feel strongly about.

'I've been fighting on many different fronts -

'whether it's for kids, for animals, for the environment -

'old people, as well.

'People that basically can't help themselves - and, of course,'

gay and lesbian rights,

women's rights, I mean, we still have a long way to go.

Basically, the only people that have nothing to fight for are white men.

Straight white men. They are all set.

But if you're outside of that,

you're an outsider.

And there is a mountain to climb -

it just depends on how high that mountain is -

but there's a mountain to climb.

'I do it in my time, in my pace, at my level.'

You know, I hope that it makes a difference somewhere, on some level.

There's always a fight.

It's an appalling cliche

and really disgraceful,

but if anyone was going to have Sinatra's My Way sung

at some lifetime-achievement award,

it should be Martina. She really did do things her way.

Great. Go on. Let's get into the boat.

Has Martina changed?

I think she's really enjoying being a mom.

I think she's just having more experiences outside the tennis court

that have made her just fuller, more of a full person.

-OK. Push her out.

-Ah!

No, I don't want to go for a swim in this.

'She's the greatest tennis player that ever lived.

'You know, she's an inspiration.'

And if I was an inspiration to her, she's certainly been one to me.

I think she taught all of us

how to be more comfortable in our own skin.

Maybe SHE wasn't as comfortable but, you know what,

she made us feel like she was.

She showed a human dimension that was simply marvellous -

to be so brilliant without being robotic.

To be so technically perfect, so athletic

and so wonderfully joyous when she won.

And she gave sport everything, and it is a richer sport.

And I think she enriches everything she touches.

Thank you, girls. I passed the test?

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

-When do you want to come for the next one?

-LAUGHTER

-I might do that.