Sue Barker, presenter and tennis player

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sue Barker is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. She presented the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage for nearly three decades, before stepping down this year, when she received a standing ovation. Sue was born in Devon in 1956, and was educated at the Marist Convent School where she had a reputation for being naughty – until her PE teacher, Mrs Chadwick, diverted her energy into tennis. Aged 11 she was selected for training by the local tennis coach Arthur Roberts, who had already guided players to Grand Slam titles. Sue started playing – and winning – junior tournaments. She turned professional at 17, and moved to the US, joining a new women’s tour set up by Billie Jean King. During her career, she reached the ranking of World No. 3, playing and defeating her contemporaries, including Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Evonne Goolagong and Virginia Wade. Her biggest win came at the French Open in 1976 where, aged 20, she took her first – and only – Grand Slam title. Her biggest disappointment came at Wimbledon the following year, when she lost in the semi-final, despite being the clear favourite. Plagued by injuries, she retired from tennis in 1985. She began commentating on Australia’s Channel 7, before moving to BskyB in the UK, and then joining the BBC in 1993. She has hosted Wimbledon, Grandstand, the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and A Question of Sport. When she announced her retirement from TV, her idol Billie Jean King called her the GOAT, the ‘greatest of all time’. DISC ONE: Run Boy Run by Woodkid DISC TWO: Piano Concerto in A minor, composed by Edvard Grieg and performed by Sir Clifford Curzon (piano) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Øivin Fjeldstad DISC THREE: Harry Hippie by Bobby Womack DISC FOUR: California Girls by The Beach Boys DISC FIVE: The Greatest Love of All by George Benson DISC SIX: Simply Beautiful by Al Green DISC SEVEN: Grandstand by Keith Mansfield DISC EIGHT: Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John BOOK CHOICE: All In by Billie Jean King LUXURY ITEM: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Harry Hippie by Bobby Womack Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Katy Hickman

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.6	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:13.9	if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.5	And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:21.2	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:44.5	My cast away this week is the former professional tennis player and television presenter Sue Barker.
0:50.5	As a broadcaster, she's been the steady hand on the tiller of everything from grandstand to a question of sport,
0:56.4	the Commonwealth Games to the Olympics, but it's as the host of the BBC's Wimbledon coverage
1:01.6	for an outstanding 30 years that she is perhaps best known and loved.
1:06.8	This year she announced her retirement and there wasn't a dry eye on centre court as spectators
1:12.3	and the greats of tennis bid her an emotional goodbye.
1:15.6	As John McInero put it, she just ate swimbled and
1:19.4	Wimbledon has been in her sights from the beginning.
1:22.3	She was an aspiring player of just 13 when she first walked through the gates of the All England club
1:28.0	fresh off the minibus from Devon.
1:29.9	She would go on to become the world number three, a Wimbledon semi-finalist, winner of the French Open
1:35.7	and one day to have a coat hook marked HRWH, her Royal Wimbledon Highness in the studio just for her.
1:43.1	She says, I feel very lucky that I was able to move on to a job that I enjoy as much as my tennis career.
1:49.2	Very few people have one career they love, less alone too.
1:53.0	Sue Barker, welcome to Daza Island Disks.
1:55.3	Thank you Lauren, lovely to be here.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.