He’d leave little notes in my racquet bag: Navratilova

Off the court as well,he was a very positive person,he always had a smile on his face. He said a lot of inspiring things to me … he would leave little notes in my racquet bags and they always had something sweet,something inspiring to say. We used to go out on a lot of dinners together and it was fun speaking to him,hanging out with him.

In a way we both inspired each other. He was always very intrigued by how I was playing and doing well at that age so I think that influenced and affected him — I think it was about seeing that if somebody else can do it,I can do it too. I probably made him realise the importance of tennis in our lives that way … that even at this age would we rather do anything else than play tennis? And if no,then we have to overcome that (age,pain barriers) to do what we want to do. And I am very happy for him that he is still doing that … competing in Grand Slams and winning them,like he did this year at Melbourne.

(As told to Smriti Sinha)