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.
Last on
Clip
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Martina Navratilova: ‘You can never get those years back’
Duration: 01:37
Music Played
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Lady Gaga
Bad Romance
Composer: Redone & Lady Gaga
- Bad Romance/Lady Gaga.
- Streamline.
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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.
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ABBA
Dancing Queen
Composer: B Anderson/S Anderson/B Ulvaeus
- Abba: Number Ones.
- Polar.
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Giacomo Puccini
Nessun dorma
Artist: Luciano Pavarotti with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta
- Luciano Pavarotti: Operatic Arias.
- Decca.
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Ella Fitzgerald
Love is Here to Stay
Composer: George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
- Jazz for Weddings.
- Verve.
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k.d. lang
Crying
Composer: Roy Orbison & Joe Melson
- Recollection.
- Nonesuch.
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Castaway's Favourite
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Bedrich Smetana
Vltava from Ma Vlast – My 91Èȱ¬land
Artist: the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
- Smetana: Ma Vlast.
- Naxos.
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Giacomo Puccini
Un bel di vedremo
Artist: Maria Callas
- Madame Butterfly.
- EMI.
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Book Choice
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The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Luxury Choice
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A pillow her mother made for her
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Kirsty Young |
Interviewed Guest | Martina Navratilova |
Broadcasts
- Sun 8 Jul 2012 11:1591Èȱ¬ Radio 4
- Fri 13 Jul 2012 09:0091Èȱ¬ Radio 4
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