Gods of Tennis

Narrator: This is the inside story of how, in the seventies and eighties, a cast of unapologetic mavericks revolutionized the tranquil world of tennis.

John McEnroe: You can't be serious.

You cannot be serious!

McEnroe, voice-over: I would say, on some level, there were some anger issues.

Martina Navratilova: Are you supposed to, like, be demure and blend in?

**** that.

Ha ha ha!

Narrator: On the court, they were geniuses.

[Crowd cheers] Announcer: Oh, I don't believe it.

Narrator: Off it, they were superstars.

Clare Balding: Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King.

Who's got star presence?

They have.

[Crowd cheers] Man: Bjorn Borg.

Woman: Bjorn Borg.

Woman 2: Bjorn Borg.

Navratilova: Borg was a superstar.

Man: Borg was, uh, sex personified.

The guy was unbelievable.

Sue Barker: He was in a different league; I mean, he wouldn't have looked at me.

Borg: If you say "sex god," I hope I was popular for my tennis.

Ha ha ha ha!

Announcer: The champ!

[Crowd cheers] Tennis was absolutely massive!

Narrator: At a time when the sports world was embracing historic cultural change.

Johnnie Ashe: Arthur had wanted South Africans to see a free Black man.

You had to be beyond reproach.

Billie Jean King: Sports are a microcosm of society.

It reflects what's going on in the world.

Narrator: The spotlight fell on Wimbledon, the world's oldest tennis tournament.

Sue Mott: It provides a stage for brutal gladiatorial combat that's disguised as a vicar's tea party.

McEnroe, voice-over: Here's a newsflash.

If I hadn't been as good as I was, no one would have given a damn.

[Theme music playing] [Overlapping chatter] Narrator: As the eighties drew to a close, enormous political upheaval was unfolding across the world.

[Crowd whistling and shouting] And in the months that followed, a new symbol of the East-West alliance was aiming to make history 700 miles away in Southwest London.

[Applause and whistling] Announcer: And leading, Martina.

Narrator: Born in Czechoslovakia, but now flying the flag for the United States, Martina Navratilova was one match away from becoming the most successful tennis player in Wimbledon history.

Announcer: Martina, of course, attempting to win the championship for the ninth time.

Balding: Martina Navratilova was a breakthrough athlete in women's sport.

Announcer: And so, what a moment for both of these ladies.

Miriam Margolyes: She had always difficulties being accepted for who she was because she was from a communist country, she wasn't beautiful, and she was a lesbian.

Announcer: Martina Navratilova, standing on the fringe of history.

Johnette Howard: Getting that one last singles title that could push her over the top and make her the best ever at Wimbledon was something that meant everything to her.

Narrator: Standing in the way of Navratilova's dream was Zina Garrison, an agile young American 7 years younger, and a knee problem caused by a lifetime of almost nonstop tennis.

Navratilova: How much more time can you have when you're 33, 34 years old?

[Applause] Announcer: She's so quick, is Garrison.

I knew my time was running out.

Man: 1, 2, 3, 4!

[Rock music playing] Narrator: Twelve years earlier, at 21 years old, Martina Navratilova's singles career had yet to take off.

Having left Czechoslovakia to break into the tennis elite, she had landed at a time when the women's game was booming.

Woman: In the late seventies, women's tennis was already established as the most powerful, most prominent women's professional sports in the world.

Narrator: Billie Jean King had transformed women's tennis, but, with her fame fading, a feisty new trailblazer had arrived on the scene.

Navratilova: I was brash, I play a very aggressive style of tennis.

I was the bad guy, right?

[Applause] Announcer: There's despair on the face of Martina.

She knows she didn't do too well there.

Navratilova: I wore my emotions on my sleeve... Announcer: An angry Martina Navratilova there.

and I would complain about line calls.

I quit trying after she made that noise.

Navratilova, voice-over: The Brits, we don't do that, right?

James Mason: I personally always feel slightly sick when I see one of the professionals disputing a line call.

Announcer: Martina Navratilova, and I'm afraid we've had rather too many of the disputes in this match.

He said, "You're so competitive" as if it's a bad thing.

Are you supposed to, like, be demure and blend in?

You know, **** that.

Ha ha ha!

Narrator: Despite questions over her temperament, Navratilova battled her way through 5 rounds to reach the semifinal.

Navratilova: I played Evonne Goolagong in the semifinals.

In the third set, she pulled a calf muscle.

[Goolagong shrieks] Announcer: Something's wrong.

The ankle seems to have gone.

She couldn't really move, so I ended up winning.

[Crowd whistling] Announcer: Well, that's a most unfortunate ending to this match so late in the championships, but for Miss Navratilova, she goes into the final for the first time.

Narrator: Navratilova had snuck into the final, but all eyes were on the star of women's tennis.

Hello.

I mean, Chrissy, um, she was just in a different league.

She looked a million dollars, everyone fell in love with her.

Howard: It was really the first crossover female tennis player into kind of a cultural icon.

Narrator: Raised in a tennis-obsessed family, Chris Evert's talent quickly secured a spot at the top.

Sue Barker: To get to the semifinal in your first Wimbledon as a teenager, I mean, she was just so awesome.

So all the attention is going to focus on the women, and in particular, on the American from Florida, Chris Evert.

Is there anybody anywhere else you'd rather be except Chris Evert?

[Chuckling] No, I don't think so.

Margolyes: She was the American girly dream.

Narrator: By 1978, 23-year-old Evert had already won two Wimbledon titles.

Announcer: Game, set-- no, it was just out.

Miss Evert goes into the final.

[Applause] Narrator: And having cruised to victory against reigning champion Virginia Wade in the semis, all bets were on her to win the upcoming clash with Martina Navratilova.

Howard: Chrissy was famous for little velvet shivs.

She would shake hands with somebody, but she might say something like, "I see you've been working on your backhand.

Hmm."

[Laughing] And that's all she'd say.

Man: If people would sort of talk about beating you, you'd go, "Enjoy it 'cause it won't last" or something like that.

I never said that!

Ha ha ha ha!

Woman: Chrissy was this beautiful young lady who spoke well, and now she had this contrasting player who was a jock, basically.

Evert: She had a big lefty serve, she had a big forehand, she had power, and I remember thinking at that time, "Oh, this girl is dangerous."

[Crowd whistling] Announcer: And so, everything is set here for what should be a really outstanding final.

The Royal Box holds the Duchess of Kent and Princess Margaret.

[Applause] Narrator: Evert and Navratilova had faced each other before, with Evert winning 20 of their 25 showdowns.

Announcer: So this much-awaited final between the American Chris Evert and the Czech Martina Navratilova.

Howard: Martina was not favored to win the '78 Wimbledon final.

Martina had not really mastered the self-control that Chris had.

Austin: There was a huge contrast in styles.

You could see that Chrissy was clean ball-striker, consistent, accurate, precise, didn't give you many free points, didn't show much emotion.

Announcer: And you can number the losses of this young lady on the fingers of one hand.

Then you had this young Czech, who was emotional on court and showed her elation, showed her despair, was a lefty, a serve-and-volleyer, a shot-maker.

Announcer: A left-hander of tremendous power, and the only flaw is her temperament.

Austin: The fact that they were so completely opposite in their styles of play made it intriguing.

Official: First set.

Play.

[Applause] Announcer: Very, very confident start by Martina there.

Narrator: After a promising opening by Navratilova, it wasn't long before Evert began to dominate.

Crowd: Oh!

Official: Game for Miss Evert.

[Applause] Austin: Chrissy mentally was so strong.

Chrissy could miss a ball... [Applause] get right back on the next point.

Official: 40-30.

Austin: Martina was physically superior, but mentally, she could lose it.

Navratilova: Yeah.

[Crowd gasps] [Applause] Austin: She could get disappointed and lose points because she was so distraught with what was happening.

Announcer: And set point to Miss Evert.

Announcer: Yes.

[Applause] Narrator: Evert swept the first set, winning it 6 games to 2.

Man: Martina was more fragile mentally, and I would watch the match and think, "Well, you're just self-destructing."

[Applause] Announcer: Ooh.

Crowd: Oh!

Announcer: Oh, that's incredible.

I can't remember-- I cannot remember, in a final, seeing an air shot played like that off a comparatively easy ball.

It was a quite easy lob.

[Film projector reel whirring] Navratilova: Wimbledon, this was a dream for me and my father since I was pretty young.

My father was my coach.

He used to go around the club telling people I was gonna win Wimbledon one day, and they were like, "Yeah, sure."

Narrator: Navratilova grew up in post-Second World War Czechoslovakia, her childhood shattered by the Soviet invasion in 1968.

Howard: But when the Soviets took over, they lost everything.

She remembered the ground churned up from the tracks of the tanks.

It was quite traumatic.

Narrator: But Navratilova took refuge in tennis, rising to be the number-one-ranked player in Czechoslovakia.

Navratilova: '75, when it's time to go for the U.S. Open, it's with Czech Federation.

They didn't want to give me permission to leave the country because you're too Americanized, you're not socializing enough with the Russian players.

Finally, the Czech Federation let me go... and that's when I realized I can't go back.

Man: Sorry, I didn't see... [indistinct] Martina has been granted political asylum by the United States.

I just found that if I want to become number-one, which I want to, that I couldn't do it under the circumstances at home.

Well, I, uh... my family-- I have one sister, and my parents are at home and, uh... uh, they didn't--they didn't know that I was going to do this.

Man: She is here.

Howard: The night before she got on the plane to New York, she took a walk along the river with her father and said, "I don't think I'm gonna come back."

And he told her, "I was gonna tell you the same thing."

And she got on the plane the next morning, and they didn't tell her mother or her grandmother and she left, and she never came back.

She was so close to her mother, and to actually leave without saying good-bye... I--I honestly can't ima-- I couldn't have done that.

Announcer: Now, after that extraordinary miss, can the Czech girl settle down?

Crowd: Oh!

Announcer: On top of the head.

She's all right, I think.

Navratilova: So it was brutal because it was a one-way ticket.

If I went back to Czechoslovakia, they were gonna put me in prison for two years.

Nobody wants to be a refugee.

Nobody wants to seek asylum... nobody wants to leave their country.

So it was heartbreaking.

I was on my own.

Tennis was my sanctuary, really...yep.

[Applause] [Applause] [Announcer chuckles] Narrator: Navratilova rallied, and in the second set, began to exert control.

[Applause] Announcer: And-- well, and that poor near shot a little earlier may well have roused Miss Navratilova.

Announcer: Yes.

Wonderful judgment again.

Official: Game and second set for Miss Navratilova.

Narrator: With one set each, the 1978 Wimbledon Championship would be decided in the third and final set.

Announcer: And these few extroverts in the crowd.

Howard: Martina, she later said that the '78 Wimbledon was the most important to her of their 80-match rivalry... Howard: because when she got to that juncture in the match where she usually folded or Chris broke her... [Applause] [Cheering and whistling] she didn't break.

Evert: Yep.

Crowd: Oh!

[Applause and whistling] Narrator: After a fierce battle in the third set, it was Navratilova who crept ahead.

[Applause] Official: Game to Miss Navratilova.

Narrator: Navratilova was now one game away from the greatest prize in tennis.

Announcer 2: Miss Navratilova serving for the match, 6-5 up, third set.

[Applause, cheering, and whistling] Official: 15-love.

She was obviously a terrific athlete, but everything seemed to come together.

[Applause] Man: Yes!

[Cheering and applause] Official: 30-love.

Austin: Just more consistent, more even-keeled on the court, just this dominance of smothering the net.

[Cheering, applause, and whistling] Official: 40-love.

Austin: And it was really the first time that Martina was just more solid emotionally.

Announcer: That's it!

She's done it.

[Crowd cheering and whistling] Navratilova: You know, and I just kept saying, "I can't believe it, I can't believe it" 'cause I couldn't believe it.

That was the happiest I've ever been on a court.

Narrator: Despite achieving her lifelong dream, the victory was tinged with sadness.

Navratilova: I didn't even know if my parents were able to watch the match because they were not gonna show it on Czech TV, so it was very bittersweet because, you know, that was the goal that we've had for such a long time, and then I couldn't share it with my family.

I'm ready to cry now, so it was rough.

[Crowd cheering and whistling] Announcer: And one feels sure that this is the first of many victories.

Man: Martina, well-played.

Does it seem like the fulfillment of a dream?

Uh, yes, for sure, because I've always dreamed about winning Wimbledon since I was a little girl.

[Whistling and applause] Evert: I was not upset at all losing that final, which I should have won, and I should have been upset, but I was in love.

Lloyd: Martina, I think she owes me dinner because I think I helped her win her first Wimbledon.

Ha ha ha!

I was falling in love with John Lloyd, so it was about me.

Lloyd: Ah, so she said it, too?

Martina can't argue with me, then, 'cause Chris said it.

Take two.

Well, in that period, you know, I was sort of a-- you know, I suppose you'd call it a tennis pin-up.

I mean, I was in all these magazines.

Man: Did you have girls screaming at you?

Well, I always thought of myself as sort of the-- Bjorn was the main course, and I was...a dessert.

[Camera shutters clicking] Narrator: With another Wimbledon looming, John Lloyd retired his ladies'-man status for a dream wedding with tennis darling Chris Evert.

[Applause and whistling] And just two months after her wedding, Evert once again faced Navratilova in another Wimbledon final.

Announcer: For Chris, John Lloyd-- enduring support.

Narrator: This time, a special guest was in the crowd to see Navratilova play.

Announcer: For Martina... her mother on the right, over from Czechoslovakia.

Man: What was it like, seeing your mum for first time in 4 years?

Um, well, yeah, amazing.

Announcer: What a marvelous moment for her mother.

Lovely ball control.

[Applause] Navratilova: The Duchess of Kent implored the Czech government to give her a visa to let me-- let her come.

Narrator: As a defending champion, Navratilova was at the top of her game and, in under an hour, was one point from victory.

[Applause and cheering] Navratilova: To this day, I don't know how I could play tennis because she was there.

I really wanted to win it in front of her.

Announcer: And that superb approach shot by the holder, Miss Navratilova, gives her championship point.

Navratilova: Yes!

Announcer: She's done it.

Narrator: Winning in two sets, Navratilova's second Wimbledon singles title would cement her as the dominant force in women's tennis.

It was just magic that I was able to share that with her.

That is greater than the game of tennis.

[Applause] It makes me emotional bec--oh.

[Inhales deeply] I-- Makes me emotional 'cause, you know, now I understand what she went through.

[Distant car horns honking] Narrator: In the early eighties, Navratilova had swapped her communist roots for the American Dream and was fully embracing the new world of unlimited riches.

Evert: She fell in love with America.

It was the land of freedom, and you could do whatever you wanted.

Navratilova: It's funny because the communist propaganda was saying, "Oh, she's greedy," and then the Americans were, "Oh, look at her.

She's wearing all this gold."

It never was about money; I wanted to belong, and so, for that, I kind of mimicked what the other players that I liked were doing, how they were dressing, how they were acting.

I wanted to belong.

I wanted so desperately to belong.

[Crowd cheering and whistling] Narrator: Despite Navratilova's success on the court, Evert remained the firm crowd favorite.

Navratilova: Chris was America's sweetheart.

She was perfect, so it was difficult to compete with that, the pecking order, right?

It was white people, then Chinese were looked down upon and the Irish, Italians, and then come the Slavs.

Narrator: Six years after defecting from Czechoslovakia to escape communist rule, Navratilova was finally granted American citizenship, but the goodwill wouldn't last long.

Just two weeks later, she would find herself at the center of a media storm.

Howard: After she got her citizenship in 1981, she was outed the following week by a New York newspaper.

She begged him not to do it, and he did it anyway.

Balding: There was this undercurrent of "Tell me the truth," you know, journalists offering to pay someone like Pam Shriver, "Tell me who else is a lesbian.

Tell me who else."

I did have an affair with Marilyn Barnett.

Howard: It became a witch hunt after Billie Jean was outed.

Now, there were two of the top 3 stars in tennis had been revealed as gay, and there were real fears that it was gonna destroy the women's tennis tour and, by extension, women's sports.

Margolyes: The fact that she was forced to come out was an act of supreme bullying by the newspapers that threatened her.

In the eighties, it was very harsh.

The climate for gay people was harsh.

Tennis people didn't care if you were gay or not, but the country cared.

Uh, it was definitely not a-- not a good thing.

[Cheering, whistling, and applause] Narrator: The 1981 U.S. Open would be Navratilova's first tournament on U.S. soil, both as a new American citizen and since being outed.

She faced 18-year-old Tracy Austin, who, two years earlier, had broken the record as the tournament's youngest-ever winner.

Martina had never won a U.S. Open, she had just become a U.S. citizen.

When she came out, Martina had a lot going on off the court.

[Whistling and applause] Martina wins the first set.

I won the second set, and there were already tears in her eyes.

She was already kind of gone mentally.

[Applause and whistling] Long story short, she lost 7-6 in the third set, and I won my second U.S. Open.

[Applause and whistling] So, for me, it was a real triumph, and for her, anybody's gonna be very disappointed when you lose 7-6 in the third for a Grand Slam title.

[Cheering and applause] Barker: We all felt for her because of everything that she had been through.

None of us could understand the emotions and everything that she was feeling.

Man: Martina Navratilova, come forward, please.

[Cheering, whistling, and applause] Navratilova: When they announce me to get the runner-up trophy... [Cheering and whistling continue] you know, the people kept clapping and they kept clapping and they kept clapping.

Shriver: The crowd roared.

Standing ovation.

Austin: The crowd embraced her.

It was--it was really wonderful.

That was the first time, I think, Martina ever felt overwhelming love of a crowd, and it-- she just broke down.

[Cheering, whistling, and applause] Navratilova: I didn't cry because I lost the match.

I cried because I felt I was accepted.

I always wanted to belong, right?

And now I'm a citizen and I'm gay and they're still clapping.

[Applause and whistling] Austin: I think people saw Martina before as just muscles and strong and--and sturdy, and now they saw that there was, you know, there was a softness behind Martina.

They hadn't seen that side.

[Applause] Narrator: Despite winning over the U.S. crowd, Navratilova's tennis success was stalling.

Announcer: That's it.

She's done it.

Narrator: She lost at the semis in Wimbledon two years in a row, and Navratilova's biggest rival Chris Evert was gaining momentum, winning 3 Grand Slams in two years, including Wimbledon in 1981.

[Cheering and applause] Evert was hailed as a champion reborn and reclaimed her status as the world number-one.

The battle between Evert and Navratilova for top spot was proving to be one of the greatest sporting rivalries of all time.

Official: Game and second set.

Announcer: And she is furious and her mama must be, too, up there.

Howard: You know, people used to say, "Well, what about Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier?"

[Ali and Frazier shouting] Howard: And Martina said, "They fought 3 times."

Wait till I get you in the ring!

Howard: "We played 80."

Ha ha!

Barker: The rivalry was just unbelievable.

I mean, it transformed tennis.

Lloyd: Chris and Martina, people have selective memory.

They sort of say, "Oh, they were still good buddies."

No, they were-- how can you be that when you're that competitive?

There's no way.

Evert: In the beginning, when I was beating her, we started practicing together and we started playing doubles together and getting closer, and then she started beating me.

Chrissy didn't like that.

Heh heh!

So I basically dropped her in doubles... Announcer: That's a great lob!

Evert: and I started beating her again.

Announcer: And sportingly, Miss Navratilova comes to the net.

Evert: And then Nancy Lieberman came on the scene and-- and taught her to hate me.

Heh heh!

Basically, "You have to hate her."

Howard: Nancy Lieberman was this American professional basketball player, and she thought that Martina's friendship with Chris was a hindrance to her beating her.

Narrator: Nancy Lieberman had taken charge of Navratilova's entire training regime.

The pair were also romantically involved.

Announcer: And in the players' box, Nancy Lieberman, supporting Martina.

Howard: She started to preach to Martina that she needed to change her attitude, and Chrissy used to call it the "Kill Chris" speech that--ha ha ha!

Man: What does "Kill Chris" mean?

Ha ha ha ha!

Um, it means to be ruthless.

It means-- it means "Forget she's your friend.

She's the enemy."

Navratilova: Well, she didn't mean literally--ha ha ha!-- obviously.

It's only a dog.

No, it just means-- I think Nancy was just trying to get me pumped up and get more of a killer instinct going, that "You really "have to be competitive against this one player because she's the one that's standing in your way."

Whatever she said about me, it worked.

Martina went the extreme.

She really was the first to go into the gym and maximize their potential physically.

Barker: And Martina suddenly became this Amazon woman she turned into suddenly.

We were like, "Oh, do us a favor, Martina.

Now we've all got to go and do that."

Shriver: She had her own team.

She was one of the earliest players to have an entourage, not just a coach; a lot of times, she'd have a coach, a coaching consultant, a nutritionist, a physical trainer.

Narrator: With Lieberman in her corner, Navratilova would embark on a career-defining run.

Official: Game, set, and match for Miss Navratilova.

Balding: Martina Navratilova transformed women's tennis into a sport of real athleticism and fitness.

[Applause] Announcer: Championship point.

Official: Game, set, and match, Miss Navratilova.

Announcer: And natural jubilation on the part of Nancy Lieberman.

[Crowd cheering and whistling] Lloyd: She had this amazing run where she was sort of unbeatable.

Announcer: She's just won... [Cheering and applause] and she goes forward to take the championship trophy, and one wonders how many times she might go on winning it.

A great hand for Chris Lloyd; played beautifully today, but playing against the best lady player we've ever seen.

Evert: And when I walked on the court, I didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel.

I just had a feeling and-- that I was gonna lose to a highly superior athlete and tennis player.

Navratilova: You know, I think, when you win so much, you end up winning even when you shouldn't, because you forget how to lose.

[Grunts] Announcer: Game, set, and championship.

Different announcer: Championship, Miss Navratilova.

[Cheering and whistling] Narrator: Between 1982 and 1987, Navratilova won 6 Wimbledon singles titles.

Lloyd: She was so dominant, she knew it.

Martina was walking around so assured that she couldn't lose, and she wasn't losing.

Narrator: Navratilova's domination continued at the 1988 Wimbledon Championships, once again facing her adversary Chris Evert in the semis.

[Crowd cheering] Announcer: Oh, that's truly unbelievable!

Well, we always think of Martina as a great athlete, but I don't think I've ever seen her move faster than that.

Narrator: Navratilova battled through the match, beating Evert in 3 tight sets for the opportunity of winning a record ninth title, but standing in her path was a 19-year-old powerhouse from West Germany.

Steffi Graf was tennis' new rising star.

She'd made the final without losing a set.

[Cheering, whistling, and applause] Howard: Steffi was actually kind of a fascinating combination of Chris and Martina, in a way, so you could not read Steffi Graf, but she also was an amazing athlete.

Narrator: In the first set, Navratilova was in the lead... Announcer: And she's missed it.

Narrator: drawing on years of experience to win, 7-5.

Announcer: Well, that's a wonderful performance by Martina because that's the first set that Steffi has lost here this year and, in fact, it's the first set she's lost in 21 consecutive Grand Slam championship matches.

Balding: Martina spawned Steffi Graf, so the athleticism of Steffi Graf, the fitness, but also the touch, the tactical genius around court.

Narrator: Graf was 12 years younger than Navratilova.

In the second set, her superior athleticism was beginning to show.

Announcer: Oh, that's an unbelievable shot.

Not happy about it.

Hard to believe it's the same player who started so brilliantly.

Narrator: Graf took the second set, 6-2.

In the third, Navratilova's chances began slipping away.

Official: Out!

Announcer: And because of that volley just wide, she's been made to stretch so much by this young lady's expertise today.

[Crowd gasps] Announcer: And I'm afraid this could be the end of her dream.

Howard: It was a quest to win the most Wimbledon singles titles ever.

[Cheering and applause] Announcer: Set to Miss Graf.

Howard: That was really the thing she was still playing for, to get that unquestioned stature as the best that ever played there.

[Crowd shouting] Narrator: After Navratilova's disastrous third set, Graf was at championship point.

[Cheering and whistling fade] Graf: Yeah!

Announcer: That's it.

The queen is dead.

Long live the new queen.

Announcer: I wonder if this is the beginning of the Graf era.

Howard: Steffi Graf was like this silent assassin, in contrast to Martina, who's bellowing and shrieking.

Narrator: Graf had taken the women's game by storm and was at the forefront of a new generation, transforming the game forever.

Announcer: Oh, and she's done it.

Narrator: As the eighties drew to a close, the legends of the golden era started to fade.

Announcer: And at the age of 36, one wonders whether Jimmy Connors will ever return to Wimbledon.

Evert: You know, the new breed was bigger and better and the equipment was better, they were better athletes.

Balding: Boris Becker.

Suddenly, he emerges from nowhere.

Becker: I think, at the beginning, he was very nervous... and so I--I broke him.

[Cheering and applause] Narrator: Younger, stronger, fitter, tennis' formidable new breed ditched the wooden rackets and followed the intense training regime forged by Navratilova.

Announcer: Oh, he's missed it.

It's all over.

Stefan Edberg is the new champion.

Lloyd: They've got a gym, they've got bikes, physiotherapists, they've got their own trainers, stretch them, do yoga.

I mean--ha!--our day was a joke.

It was almost unheard of to have a coach.

Announcer: This year, John McEnroe tore a muscle.

McEnroe: Players today get in ice baths.

We were handed a beer or a drink, you know, as we walked off the court.

Lloyd: I spoke to Bjorn about it; he never stretched in his whole career, either.

None of us did.

Evert: Then I started to get to the semifinals instead of winning tournaments.

I mean, it's tough for the ego.

[Applause] Announcer: Centre Court wondered whether they'd seen the last act of a great champion.

I'd be really shocked if I came back and played this tournament next year.

I mean, I don't know.

It would take a...transplant or something.

[Laughter] I didn't want a fight on the court.

I was mentally burned out, and that was my reasoning.

Howard: A lot of people that lose the number-one ranking go through this.

Bjorn Borg said, "When you're not number one, you're a nobody."

Evert: In the seventies and eighties, Martina and I, for 12 years, were number-one and number-two.

Our rivalry was stronger, maybe, than us individually, and it had more of an impact on the game of tennis.

I mean, that's one of the beautiful things that we talk about, is that we improved each other.

Narrator: After 18 Grand Slam singles titles across a 17-year career, Chris Evert bowed out of professional tennis at the age of 34.

But as the new decade approached, her closest competitor had unfinished business.

Woman: Of course.

Harry, go down the line.

Man: Harry, we're just waiting on Kansas City.

[Woman speaks indistinctly] Howard: Martina was chasing her ninth, and she kept not being able to get it.

Steffi kept getting in the way.

[Cheering and applause] And her coach, Craig Kardon, would have Martina go to sleep every night, and right before she went to sleep, "I'm gonna win Wimbledon in 1990."

Man: You keep coming back for this ninth.

I mean, there must be a point at which, you-- I mean, I take it you're not gonna come in on a wheelchair.

[Scoffs] I'm trying to encourage you to keep going, you see?

I'm planning on it.

Narrator: Navratilova's quest for 9 Wimbledon singles wins was impeded by a knee injury, brought on by a punishing 16-year career.

Austin: We didn't have as much knowledge, you know, the sports science of it.

We didn't have as much knowledge about our bodies and recovery, and your joints and your knees and your hips are really taking a pounding.

Narrator: Yet Navratilova battled through the pain... Announcer: And she's done it.

Announcer 2: Game, set, match.

Narrator: to beat fan-favorite Gabriela Sabatini in the semifinal.

Announcer: Navratilova takes one more step towards that elusive dream.

[Cheering, whistling, and applause] Narrator: But in the other semi, 26-year-old outsider Zina Garrison was threatening an upset of the championships.

Evert: I mean, Zina had an unbelievable tournament.

[Crowd cheering and whistling] Announcer: Oh, well-played and another beautifully constructed rally.

[Applause] Announcer: And she's done it!

Steffi Graf is beaten.

Zina Garrison beats the defending champion.

Narrator: With Garrison unfazed by the seemingly unstoppable Steffi Graf, it was now or never for Navratilova.

Announcer: And just behind the scenes, just waiting to come out there.

Evert: Martina is just a wreck.

I mean, she's running around the locker room.

I have never seen her this nervous.

Navratilova: Nine Wimbledon titles.

That's the only record that I really was going after, but I knew my time was running out.

How much more time can you have when you're 33, 34 years old?

Howard: It was starting to look increasingly quixotic, the quest to win the most Wimbledon singles titles ever.

Man: This way.

[Applause] Announcer: And leading, Martina... and the bouquets, as always.

[Louder applause] Official: First set.

Play.

[Applause] Narrator: Garrison learned her trade on Texas' public courts... Official: Out!

Narrator: and was outsmarting Navratilova early on with her speed and shot versatility.

[Applause] Man: Come on, Zina!

Howard: I think every great champion starts to become aware of their mortality, and she really went through crisis of confidence.

Announcer: Oh, well-played.

[Applause] Narrator: Garrison's ruthless start began exposing Navratilova's weaknesses.

Announcer: Well-played again.

She's so quick, is Garrison, one of the fastest players around the court.

Navratilova: I knew I had to still get better, but it's hard to do that in your 30s, right?

So, um, I found a way.

[Grunts] Hi.

What's happening?

Heh heh!

Craig Kardon was Martina's full-time coach, but I would come in for the jolts, so-- Man: The what?

The jolts, they call it.

Like, "Jolt!

Come in like a jolt!"

Because I would just bring something-- different energy, different way of looking at it.

Announcer 2: Billie Jean, who is her tactical coach and motivator.

King: And I said, "OK, "if there was only one tournament you could win, what is that one?"

She says, "Well, I want to win Wimbledon."

I said, "Well, if you win 9, that's great because you deserve to be the one to have the most.

Let's go."

[Whistling and applause] Navratilova: Billie Jean King was helping me to change some technique.

[Applause] King: I said, "I think your 90% "is better than most of the other players' 100%, and that's all that matters."

Navratilova: We changed the footwork.

Announcer: Oh, yes, too quick for Navratilova.

So one all.

We did the outside foot, whereas before, it was always cross foot--footwork.

Announcer: Oh, that's a beautifully flighted pass, totally run from Garrison.

There's the break.

Narrator: Navratilova's game plan was starting to work.

Fighting back, she soon looked poised to take the first set.

Announcer: My goodness, she's hitting that backhand well today.

What confidence.

Navratilova: I found a way to learn new tricks at my old age.

Announcer: Oh, my goodness.

What a way to win the first set.

Narrator: With concerns over her stamina, Navratilova needed to muster all her strength to try and secure the match in the next set.

Howard: Billie Jean felt that she had lost her love of tennis.

Martina--she was thinking about giving it up.

There are a lot of stories like that, where something collapses in them, the scaffolding collapses.

Martina was close to that point.

King: I said, "Well, I think, if you still love to play, you could still win."

[Applause] Howard: Billie told her, "Can you go back and remember a time when tennis was fun?

What did you love about it?"

Announcer: That's it!

She's done it!

Announcer: Game, set, and match.

Announcer: Now tremendous footwork from Navratilova there, getting around to hit the forehand return instead of the backhand.

Narrator: Rolling back the years, Navratilova was beginning to take control of the second set.

[Crowd gasps] [Garrison shrieks] Announcer: My goodness.

Martina covering the court so well today.

You'd never believe she was 33.

[Applause] Disappointing, really, for Garrison to find Martina in such tremendous form.

Oh, yes.

Totally wrongfooted.

[Applause] Narrator: It was now championship point.

Announcer: Martina Navratilova, standing on the fringe of history.

Here she comes.

She's done it.

Announcer 2: She's won.

Announcer: Navratilova, the champion for the ninth time.

[Applause] What an emotional moment, this, for Martina Navratilova, who has worked year-long for this very moment.

Navratilova: I always wanted to be the best that I could be and, hopefully, that would be good enough to be number-one.

Announcer: Oh.

She's climbing up to her friends in the box.

[Crowd whistling and cheering] Navratilova: I got the record that I really wanted.

This record was-- I would have felt that I didn't complete my career if I didn't get this one.

Announcer: And Billie Jean, who has helped Martina to achieve this dream.

King: It was glorious when she won her ninth Wimbledon.

No one's--I don't think they'll ever get close to it.

Narrator: At the end of a career spanning 3 decades, Martina Navratilova had cemented her position as the most decorated player in Wimbledon history.

It was the last time she would ever win a Wimbledon singles title.

Shriver: You know, you can argue who's the greatest of all time.

I put Martina at the top.

Evert: She was always searching for acceptance and searching for people to love her and searching for people to understand her.

Margolyes: Martina was able to achieve huge success and be herself, and that's the biggest victory of all.

[Cheering, whistling, and applause] [Navratilova speaks indistinctly] [Cheering swells] [Applause and whistling] [Navratilova speaking Czech] [Crowd chanting, "Martina!"]

[Navratilova chuckles, speaks Czech] [Chanting continues] Narrator: Navratilova retired from singles tennis in 1994, the last survivor from a time when tennis changed the world.

Sir Trevor McDonald: You felt you were quite privileged to watch an age that produced such great players.

Announcer: That's it!

And he's done it.

Sue Mott: Wimbledon was able to introduce to it new characters who we felt were more like us.

McEnroe: It was a great time to feel like you were jumping on something that was really going places.

That golden era, we didn't realize we were in it... [Applause] until later, when you look back, you're like, "Wow, that was pretty special."

We were different people, different personalities.

People looked up to us like maybe rock stars, not only tennis players.

You're always reminded that you won a major, you won Wimbledon.

You take a little piece of that away with you for the rest of your life.

[Applause] Johnnie Ashe: Arthur showed us the way.

He taught us that all things are possible if we approach it the right way.

McEnroe: We have a stadium at the U.S. Open, Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Would have been nice if he had been able to see it.

Announcer: That's it.

Official: Game, set, match.

King: When I look at any tennis court, that's my stage.

I love it.

[Crowd cheering and whistling] King: We are entertainers first.

Our job is to make the people happy.

"Gods Of Tennis" is available on Amazon Prime video