Regret leaving Czech Republic: Martina Navratilova
Midway into the press conference, lights went out in the conference hall at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. “Welcome to Calcutta,” quipped Martina Navratilova. From Zico to Lionel Messi and Navratilova, this city has spared none when it comes to power trip. The latest one, however, lasted only for a few seconds, saving the organiser’s blushes.
Before the media meet, there was fun tennis where Navratilova paired up with Leander Paes to take on Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi.
Tennis Masters, presented by the Jaidip Mukerjea Tennis Academy, served as a precursor to the upcoming edition of the IPTL.
Navratilova might have 18 Grand Slam singles titles, but she is 59 now and battered by a few surgeries that include knee, hip and shoulder. Little wonder then that turnout was poor — about 700-odd. A forehand volley and an overhead smash, however, were reminiscent of her golden past. Paes bowed in reverence.
Off court, Martina Navratilova produces a ring
Martina Navratilova proposes to girlfriend on big screen in US Open
- At WTA Championships,Serena can better best year
Leander Paes: Martina Navratilova taught me how to be productive towards my tennis
- All eyes on Sharapova and her seven-year wait
- Murray should stop blaming others for his defeat: Navratilova
Doubles has become very much second-string these days.
Top players prefer to avoid it. But Navratilova has always backed the format. Her comment before the audience was tongue-in-cheek though.
“I think doubles is more fun than singles because here you can talk to somebody in the middle of the match. But if you talk to yourself in singles people will think whether you’re mad! Hope I keep on improving… I can still improve.”
Why is she still so much into the sport? “It’s because of the love for the sport. I’m still having fun and most of all I am healthy.”
Full-time coaching doesn’t figure in her scheme of things at the moment, for she has a lot of items on the platter. “Not now. I’m enjoying family time. I’ve a great family. I’ve two children. I’m doing a lot of commentary, addressing LGBT issues… But yes, later on I would try and pass down the knowledge.”
Forget her tennis career, Navratilova is an incredibly strong lady who migrated to the United States from the erstwhile Czechoslovakia at the peak of Cold War. He openly spoke about her sexual preference at a time when lesbianism was considered to be a taboo even in America. She left her country because she wanted to make a mark in tennis but for the first six years she didn’t have a coach. “I didn’t have a coach. I was completely on my own for six years…I couldn’t possibly create a coach where I lived,” she said.
But Navratilova doesn’t mind the struggle. Her only regret is that she had to leave her country.
“I regret that I had to leave my country. I had to do it to achieve and to be free and decide my own fate. Democracy came 15 years too late for me. Czech Republic was a great country. It always was, but I just think it had the wrong regime. I started my tennis as a five-year-old. From 5-18, I sacrificed nothing. After that, when I had to leave my family, I sacrificed everything.”
Praise from Paes
Paes described her former mixed doubles partner, who whom he had won a major, as “one of the greatest human beings on the planet”.
It was homecoming for the city boy. “Living in Park Circus, learning my tennis at South Club and going to my school La Martinere, I never dreamt of (winning) 17 Grand Slams an Olympic bronze, and having 26 years on the circuit. My message to the youth is hard work,” he said.
Sania, who has had a great season partnering Martina Hingis, is keen to continue the dream run. For the record, Mirza-Bhupathi won the first match 7-5, 7-5 of this three-leg series.
The next two matches will be played in Hyderabad and Delhi.
