"Each time I returned to Prague after a long while playing outside of Czechoslovakia I felt nervous. I knew all my papers were in order, I knew no one had the jurisdiction to stop me from leaving again, yet the feeling still existed that this time the door would be slammed shut behind me. With me on the wrong side of passport control."
"Tennis is almost too easy for Hana. That's why she would lose matches she had no right to lose, simply because she would get disinterested."
'My headband, in the early days, was also a lucky talisman. I was 11 years old, playing Yvana Masopust, when I kept brushing my hair out of my eyes. Father became so incensed by this that he took a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and tied it round my head. That was how I came to play in a headband.'(ref. " HANA", p166)
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I can never understand how my world ranking never went higher than number five. (An omission) I will always feel the computer was unfair to me that summer. Later, Chris Evert, a member of the WTA Board, admitted that I should have been ranked number two.
'When you are in the limelight you have to be a little different in public than in private. You construct a wall around yourself. Chris's wall is three-feet thick and virtually impenetrable, Martina's wall is flimsy and mine is practically transparent.'
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'It requires me still to take a deep breath to relive the months of the summer of 1984 and the only way I can bring myself to re-tell the story is to remind myself that I had the courage to apologize for my actions.'
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'It might, perhaps, be boring if everyone played tennis with such supreme control as Chris Evert. The bottom line is I am the one who gets hurt, but I don't want to lock up my emotions. '
'I had never felt like I belonged anywhere since leaving home as a teenager. The condominium in Florida was a house, but not a home. My house in Prague was beautiful, but I knew that no matter what, I was never going to live in residence there,...'
'Even though I feel happier with my image, no one knows the real Hana. They will never really know, though this is my humble attempt to shed some light on my background, my hopes and fears.'
'It is my belief that even after years spent in the public eye, few people know much about me as a person... In the past, I admit I helped the Press write negative features or reports about me. My behaviour, attitude and tendency to be forthright gave them plenty of opportunity to roast me in print. And, believe me, I have been cooked to a cinder.'
'I never paid attention when people told me that I have good legs, or a nice figure, but as I have got older I realize that I have a pretty reasonable body, and have taken advantage of it sometimes.'
'... American Kathy Jordan. She is the only professional to have beaten me 6-0, 6-0. To be whitewashed like that - it happened in Detroit - is so embarrassing, you feel like throwing your rackets in a cupboard and going down to the nearest Careers Office to see what jobs they have on offer.'
'The first man I thought of marrying was an Englishman, named Nigel Sears. ...We renewed our acquaintance at the US Open, and it was me who made the first move.'
'To suggest I was on drugs would be laughable if it was not so serious. People on drugs tend to develop muscle definition. Just look at any photograph of me in 1981 - sorry, case closed.'
'It was a memorable tournament, not because I beat Britain's Sue Barker in the final, but because for the first time in my life I got drunk. I am not a great drinker by anyone's standards and make no apologies for that. But at the end of three successful weeks I was in the mood to let my hair down and Betty was, too.'
'Coaching Hana has been emotionally draining at times, but I have no regrets. Her triumphs have made it all worthwhile.'I am so grateful to Betty for coaching and being with Hana like her secondmother over 8 years. Huge deal! - etsuko209
'The Japanese could hardly believe their luck in having the US Open runner-up playing at their tournament. Reporters, photographers and television crews dogged my footsteps and it is no exaggeration to admit I over-shadowed Billie Jean King.'
'I first went to see Billie Jean. She told me that she was not interested in becoming a coach at this time, but Billie Jean was extremely pleasant and she encouraged me to ask someone else.'
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