Martina Navratilova: belief

Transcript context

…If we were to take your achievements, and rather than framing them as sports achievements and athletic — which, of course, they were — but to think of them in terms of both education — self-education — and management, how would you describe the approach that took you, by the early ’80s, to really being a completely dominant player? You were a contender, and then you became completely dominant, say, by 1981. How did you do that? And what can you teach us about that process? I didn’t graduate from high school, so I’m having a hard time understanding your question. [laughter] I’m just kidding. I left my country before I was able to graduate. I think what happened was a seminal moment. I was friends with Nancy Lieberman, who is a basketball player, Hall of Famer. That spring, she traveled with me, and I had a bad spring. I lost the semifinals at the French Open. I lost the semifinals, both lead-up tournaments to Wimbledon and at Wimbledon. I always said I would play until I’m 30 and then see. She said, “You know, your time’s running out, and, and you could work a lot harder.” I’m like, “What are you talking about?” I thought I worked pretty hard, but I didn’t have a coach for six years after I defected. My dad was my coach, and I didn’t have a coach. I thought I worked hard enough, but then she introduced me to running suicides on the basketball court. [laughter] Why did she register with you in a way earlier people hadn’t?…

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