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Martina Navratilova

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is interviewed by Kirsty Young.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the legendary tennis player, Martina Navratilova.

In an extraordinary career she's won 59 Grand Slam titles - her last just a few weeks short of her fiftieth birthday. Her life off the court has been equally eventful - she grew up in communist Czechoslovakia and, as a teenager, threw rocks as Soviet tanks rolled in; tennis offered a way to see the world and she defected to the US when she was 18 years old. After thirty years at the top of her profession she retired - and says she finally found time for the rest of her life: "Tennis really was a total commitment, you didn't have much time for anything else. So, when I quit, I was going through something emotionally that most people go through when they're 18, 20 years old. Really having the time for personal relationships, developing friendships and taking the time with everybody. I think I've caught up by now."

Producer: Leanne Buckle.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 13 Jul 2012 09:00

Music Played

  • Lady Gaga

    Bad Romance

    Composer: Redone & Lady Gaga

    • Bad Romance/Lady Gaga.
    • Streamline.
  • Georges Bizet

    L’amour est un oiseau rebelle.

    Artist: Maria Callas with the Orchestra of the National Theatre of the Opera in Paris, conducted by Georges Pretre.

    • Carmen.
    • EMI.
  • ABBA

    Dancing Queen

    Composer: B Anderson/S Anderson/B Ulvaeus

    • Abba: Number Ones.
    • Polar.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    Nessun dorma

    Artist: Luciano Pavarotti with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta

    • Luciano Pavarotti: Operatic Arias.
    • Decca.
  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Love is Here to Stay

    Composer: George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin

    • Jazz for Weddings.
    • Verve.
  • k.d. lang

    Crying

    Composer: Roy Orbison & Joe Melson

    • Recollection.
    • Nonesuch.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Bedrich Smetana

      Vltava from Ma Vlast – My 91Èȱ¬land

      Artist: the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

      • Smetana: Ma Vlast.
      • Naxos.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    Un bel di vedremo

    Artist: Maria Callas

    • Madame Butterfly.
    • EMI.
  • Book Choice

    • The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

  • Luxury Choice

    • A pillow her mother made for her

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Martina Navratilova

Broadcasts

  • Sun 8 Jul 2012 11:15
  • Fri 13 Jul 2012 09:00

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