When I was growing up, our family followed professional tennis on television, and Wimbledon was of course the tennis tournament of the year. During those years, it seemed always to boil down to Martina Navratilova against Chris Evert in the final, and the family’s loyalties were split. (I sided with the old guard and pulled for Chris Evert.) In this NPR interview, Martina Navratilova talks about her retirement (she really means it this time), looks back at the years she dominated women’s tennis, how she and Chris Evert got along off the court, and how she is disappointed with the current generation of players who seem to spend more time posturing than just hitting the ball.

Although I wasn’t a big fan of hers during those years long ago, I’ve since come around and greatly admire not just Navratilova’s accomplishments, but even more her sportsmanship and grace in what has become an increasingly antagonistic sport. So here’s a salute to arguably the greatest female tennis player of all time.