This week’s episode of Undeniable with Joe Buck features tennis legend and 18-time Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova. Navratilova’s hour-long interview with Buck highlights some of the most significant events from her life on and off the court.
Navratilova is one of the most prominent athletes who has come out and when discussing that decision she says that when she told her parents “all hell broke loose” and ultimately they decided to go back to Czechoslovakia. She reveals that her dad educated himself and kept and open mind and eventually came to accept her for who she was.
Navratilova also discusses her defection to the United States saying that the federation in Czechoslovakia didn’t want to let her play the US Open and when they finally agreed to let her go she knew she wouldn’t come back. She left without telling her mother, which broke her heart. She did tell her dad and he said if she ever called and told her to come back it was the government talking not his thoughts or desire.
When discussing her tennis opponents, she says it was always easier for her to play against friends. Finally, when Nancy Lieberman came on as her coach, Navratilova learned to have the proverbial “killer instinct” because her opponents had something that she wanted.
Navratilova discusses these and a variety of other topics on this week’s episode, which airs on DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse’s AUDIENCE Network and DIRECTV NOW Wednesday (11/1) at 8pm ET/PT.
Here are some highlights of this memorable hour-long interview:
