Desi Lydic

You have to give up things.

And I think I gave up friendships and relationships in the beginning.

I felt like I was married to my tennis, because I had to put everything emotionally, mentally, and physically into my game.

Martina had the edge physically.

She was the most phenomenal athlete, as you could see.

She was athletic, a lot more athletic than I was, but so I had to use my head.

And I realized in 76 when I came home back to my hotel room, I couldn't get off the floor because I felt so depressed and I felt like that was the defining moment of my life.

I've got to go back and really start to get some friends and work on friendships because I was working too hard on tennis and nothing else.

That's my story.

Wow.

Thanks for sharing that.

Pretty sad.

But Martina has the pole story.

Oh, I don't know what to say.

Hugging the pole.

Oh, come on.

Why'd you hug the pole?

Did the solitude of tennis shape you post-tennis?

I think what shaped me was growing up in a communist country, you just get on with it.

You don't have that many options.