Tributes from players meant ‘everything’ to me, says retired Wimbledon legend Sue
SUE BARKER says the tributes from players past and present when she stepped down from hosting BBC coverage ofwimbledon meant “everything” to her.
The former tennis star walked away from fronting live TV broadcasts of the tennis tournament in July.
She told Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne: “I knew it was going to be sad – I love the job, I lovewimbledon, it’s in my DNA.
“But I just got to a point when the time was right and I could walk out with my head held high after 30 years.
“But I never expected the tributes from players from my era and the current era. It was surprising, it was embarrassing, it was emotional.”
Sue, 66, chose Run Boy Run by French artist Woodkid as one of the discs she would take to a desert island, because it was the soundtrack to the Parade of Champions that marked the Centre Court Centenary this summer.
She said: “It was so wonderful and at the end of it John Mcenroe decided to say well done to me for 30 years and give it up for Sue Barker.
“The crowd reaction, it went on and on, and for them to give me that ovation, I just thought ‘job done’.
“It was really, really emotional. I don’t know how I held it together.”
During her career as a professional tennis player Sue reached number three in the world, won the French Open in 1976 and reached the semi-final of Wimbledon in 1977.
She retired in 1985, aged 28, and started her second career as a sports broadcaster, presenting Grandstand and then A Question of Sport for 24 years, while also fronting Olympics and Commonwealth Games coverage.
Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 11am today or on BBC Sounds