Martina Navratilova: preference

Transcript context

…There’s Ivan Lendl, Martina Hingis’s mother, yourself — all from Czech Republic. Why so much tennis talent from your country? That was about the only sport we could play there. For me, it was the availability of playing because we had a club in my hometown. It was the opportunity. I had good coaching. It was a sport that I loved. Ivan Lendl was from a tennis family. Martina, tennis family, it was passed generation to generation. Also the club scene is very healthy. Czechs are pretty athletic anyway and active. But most of all, the clubs are set up where you walk to the club in your hometown. It’s very safe, so you walk. You can stay there all day on the weekend. Or after school, you go straight to tennis and play. Then you come home before dark. It’s just a nice scene. And it’s cheap, so you don’t have to be wealthy to make it. You have good coaching and people to play with. I played against all the people. Whatever my level was, I played against those people. It wasn’t I only played against girls my age. I played whoever I could compete against. That breeds, I think, good players. In your memoir, you wrote the following, and I quote: “Charlottesville reminded me of my part of Czechoslovakia.” Please explain.…

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