Chris Evert

Chris Evert

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	1972
Retired	1989
Plays	Right; Two-handed backhand
Prize money	US$8,895,195
Singles
Career record	1309-146
Career titles	157
Highest ranking	No. 1 (November 3, 1975)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (82 • 84)
French Open	W (74–75 • 79–80 • 83 • 85–86)
Wimbledon	W (74 • 76 • 81)
US Open	W (75–78 • 80 • 82)
Doubles
Career record	117-39
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	?
Last updated on: August 14, 2006.

Christine Marie Evert (born December 21 1954) is a former World Number 1 woman tennis player from the United States. During her career, she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including a record 7 at the French Open. She also won 3 Grand Slam doubles titles. Evert's career win-loss record in singles matches of 1,309-146 (.900) is the best of any professional player in tennis history. In tennis writer Steve Flink's book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, he named Evert as the third best female player of the 20th century, after Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. Evert never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam singles tournament, her earliest exits being in the third round.

Tennis career

Evert began taking tennis lessons when she was five years old from her father, Jimmy Evert (a professional tennis coach who had won the men's singles title at the Canadian Championships in 1947). By 1969, she had become the No. 1 ranked 14-under girl in the United States. In 1970, she won the national sixteen-and-under championship and was invited to play in an eight player clay court tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 15 year-old Evert defeated Françoise Durr 6-1, 6-0 in the first round before defeating Margaret Smith Court 7-6, 7-6 in a semifinal. Court was the World No. 1 and had just won the Grand Slam in singles. These results led to Evert's selection for the U.S. Wightman Cup team, the youngest player ever in the competition.

Evert made her Grand Slam tournament debut at the 1971 U.S. Open, aged 16, receiving an invitation after winning the national sixteen-and-under championship. After an easy straight-sets win over Edda Buding in the first round, she faced the U.S. No. 4 Mary Ann Eisel in the second round. Evert saved six match points with Eisel serving at 6-4, 6-5 (40-0) in the second set before Evert went on to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-1. She made two further comebacks against Durr (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) and Lesley Hunt (4-6, 6-2, 6-3), both seasoned professionals, before losing to Billie Jean King in a semifinal. This defeat ended a 46-match winning streak built up through carefully selected participation in senior tour events.

Evert was the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon in 1973. A year later, she won both those events to claim her first Grand Slam singles titles and won 55 consecutive matches. Her fiancee at the time, Jimmy Connors, won the Wimbledon men's singles title that year and media attention surrounded the "Love Match" of tennis that summer (although the relationship proved to be short-lived).

Connors and Evert were also finalists in mixed doubles at the 1974 U.S. Open, although Evert rarely played that event. As time went by, Evert played women's doubles less frequently, preferring to devote her energies to singles tournaments.

For the next five years, Evert was the World No. 1. In 1975, she won the French Open again and the first of four straight U.S. Open titles by defeating Evonne Goolagong Cawley in a three-set final. She also won Wimbledon again in 1976, again beating Goolagong in a three-set final. In all, Evert won 21 of her 33 matches with Goolagong. Evert's domination of the women's game and her calm, steely demeanor on court earned her the nickname of the "Ice Maiden" of tennis.

A new rival to Evert's dominance emerged on the scene in the later part of the 1970s in the form of Navratilova. Though good friends off the court, their fierce on-court rivalry is remembered as one of the greatest in tennis history. Evert had the best of their earlier encounters, with Navratilova eventually gaining the upper hand during the 1980s.

Though successful on all surfaces, it was on clay courts where Evert was most dominant. Beginning in August 1973, she won 125 consecutive matches on the surface, with a loss of only 7 sets, a run which continues to stand as the record among both men and women players. The streak was broken on May 12, 1979, in a semifinal of the Italian Open, when Evert lost to Tracy Austin 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) after Evert lost a game point to go up 5-2 in the third set. Evert said after the match, "Not having the record will take some pressure off me, but I am not glad to have lost it." Evert then won 72 consecutive matches on clay before losing in a semifinal of the 1981 French Open to Hana Mandlikova. Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling had a similar run of clay court dominance from 1935 through 1939, winning the French Championships three consecutive years (not playing there the other two years) and incurring only one loss on clay during that five year period.

Evert won the French Open singles title a record seven times. Two of her victories came in three-set finals against Navratilova. In 1985, Evert prevailed 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, a win that saw her capture the World No. 1 ranking for the fifth and final time. And, in 1986, the 31 year-old Evert won her last Grand Slam title by beating Navratilova 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Evert retired from the professional tour in 1989. During her career, she won 157 singles titles and 8 doubles titles. Her record in finals was 157-72 (.686). She reached the semifinals in 273 of the 303 tournaments she entered. Evert won the WTA Tour Championships 4 times and helped the United States win the Fed Cup 8 times. Evert's last match was a 6-3, 6-2 win over Conchita Martinez in the final of the 1989 Fed Cup.

Evert won at least one Grand Slam singles title each year for 13 consecutive years from 1974 through 1986. She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her career: 7 at the French Open, 6 at the U.S. Open (3 on clay and 3 on hard courts), 3 at Wimbledon, and 2 at the Australian Open (both on grass). She reached the finals in 34 and the semifinals in 52 of the 56 Grand Slams events she entered. Between September 1971 (her Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open) and June 1983 (her twelfth visit to Wimbledon), Evert never failed to reach at least the semifinals of the 34 Grand Slam singles events she participated in. This is an unparalleled record of consistency in the world's biggest tournaments. This record ended in the third round at Wimbledon in 1983, when the All England Club refused Evert's request to delay her match with Kathy Jordan to recover from food poisoning. This defeat also ended her attempt to be the holder of all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. (Evert was then the holder of the Australian, U..S and French titles.) Evert's overall record in Grand Slam events was 297-38 .887 (72-6 at the French Open, 94-15 at Wimbledon, 101-13 at the US Open (most singles match wins in history), and 30-4 at the Australian Open). She reached the finals all 6 times she entered the Australian Open. Evert faced Navratilova in the final of 14 Grand Slam events, with Evert losing 10 of those encounters. (Navratilova defeated Evert at least once in the final of each of the four Grand Slam events, whereas three of Evert's four wins were at the French Open and the fourth was at the Australian Open.) However, Evert defeated Navratilova in the semifinals of the U.S. Open (1975), Wimbledon (1976 and 1980), and the Australian Open (1988).

During her career versus selected rivals, Evert was: 40-6 against Virginia Wade, 37-43 against Martina Navratilova, 26-13 against Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 24-0 against Virginia Ruzici, 23-1 against Sue Barker, 22-0 against Betty Stove, 22-1 against Rosie Casals, 21-7 against Hana Mandlikova, 20-1 against Wendy Turnbull, 19-7 against Billie Jean King (winning the last 11 matches with a loss of only 2 sets), 19-3 against Pam Shriver, 18-2 against Kerry Melville Reid, 17-2 against Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere, 17-2 against Helena Sukova, 17-3 against Andrea Jaeger, 16-3 against Diane Fromholtz Balestrat, 15-0 against Olga Morozova, 13-0 against Francoise Durr, 9-4 against Margaret Smith Court, 8-9 against Tracy Austin, 7-0 against Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-3 against Gabriela Sabatini, 6-5 against Nancy Richey Gunter (winning the last 6 matches), 6-8 against Steffi Graf (losing the last 8 matches), and 2-1 against Monica Seles.

Playing style

Evert's game was based on excellent stroke production technique, good balance and footwork, superb anticipation, steely concentration, unflappable temperament and mental fortitude, and an astute tactical sense. Her playing style, with precise groundstrokes delivered from the back of the court and landing with inches of the lines, was best suited to playing on clay. But she quickly proved that her game could excel on all surfaces. This was because Evert was an offensive rather than a defensive baseliner. She combined consistency of shotmaking with excellent command of line and length and angle from the backcourt. At the peak of her game, in the five consecutive years she was ranked as World No. 1 (between 1974 and 1978), Evert was the most relentlessly accurate groundstroker since Maureen Connolly Brinker in the early 1950s.

When Evert first started playing as a youngster, she developed a two-handed backhand because she was too small and weak to hit backhand shots with one hand. This became a trademark of her game and inspired generations of future players to copy her. Evert's two-handed backhand allowed her to hit with power on the backhand as well as the forehand, and she was the first woman player of the open era to do this consistently.

Aside from her consistent and accurate groundstrokes, Evert possessed the best return-of-service of her generation (taken early and on the rise to deter the net-rusher or take command of a rally). Other hallmarks of her game included outstanding touch on the lob and drop shot and one of the best passing shots in the history of the women's game (honed to perfection by the need to counter the greatest serve-and-volley players of the open era - Margaret Smith Court, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, and Martina Navratilova). Evert had a sufficient serve herself but never an overpowering one like her contemporaries Court, King, Navratilova, Virginia Wade, and Steffi Graf.

Evert's graceful appearance, conventional good looks, quiet demeanor, outward appearance of gracious sportsmanship, and carefully manipulated sex appeal and public image made her a favorite with the media and fans, although she was also considered the women's tour leader in dirty jokes.

The greatest ever?

Opinions are divided on the status of Evert in the history of the women's game. Many commentators and sports writers rank her among the top six woman players of all time, placing her behind, for example, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf (who won 22 Grand Slam singles titles). Evert, however, was the equal of Navratilova in Grand Slam singles titles, with each winning 18.

The claim that Evert was the best player of all time is based on at least two sets of considerations. First, her career win-loss record (at 90 percent success rate) is the best during the open era. Among both men and women, only Navratilova has won more career tournaments than Evert (167 to 157), but Evert won a greater proportion of the tournaments she competed in than any other player (man or woman) of the open era. Second, Evert did not compete at the Australian Open from 1975 through 1980 or the French Open from 1976 through 1978, owing both to a perceived decline in the fortunes of those events. During this period, Evert enjoyed her best form so - if she had chosen to compete - it is possible she would have won more Grand Slam tournaments.

With regard to whether Evert or Navratilova should be considered the greater player, the argument could be made that Evert's 37-43 match deficit in their longstanding rivalry does not accurately reflect the real balance of power between the two players over the duration of their careers. Yet for many commentators, this proves Navratilova's superiority. For a start, a far greater proportion of their matches were played on fast court surfaces (which favoured Navratilova's serve-and-volley game) than on slow or medium-paced surfaces (which favoured Evert's baseline style). They played each other more on grass and indoors (40 times) than on clay and shale (American Har-Tru clay) (13 times). Remarkably, they played more matches on grass (15) than on clay, despite the fact that for the greater duration of their rivalry, far more major international tournaments and WTA tour events were played on the former than on the latter. (On grass courts, Navratilova held a 10-5 career record over Evert while on clay courts, Evert held a 10-3 career record over Navratillova.) For a significant part of their rivalry, Navratilova preferred not to challenge Evert on clay. After two defeats to Evert in the final of the 1975 Italian Open (6-1, 6-0) and French Open (2-6, 6-2, 6-1), for example, Navratilova did not challenge her American rival on European clay until her return to Paris in 1982. During this period, Navratilova also avoided the North American clay court season (with the exception of the U.S. Open). She did not play Evert again on American clay until her 6-0, 6-0 defeat in the final of the Murjani WITA at Amelia Island in the spring of 1981. With a more even distribution of matches across fast and slower surfaces, Evert might have maintained her head-to-head edge over Navratilova in their personal rivalry.

But a second point is relevant when comparing the career records of Evert and Navratilova. In the mid-1970s, Grand Slam tournaments were divided between slow and fast surfaces (French Open and U.S. Open on clay, Wimbledon and Australian Open on grass). Beginning in 1978, there was a shift, with the U.S. Open being played on medium-paced hard courts for a few years. During this period, Evert enjoyed her greatest success in Grand Slam tournaments, partly because more of these big events (50 percent) were played on surfaces especially compatible with her game. From the early 1980s, however, as Navratilova took over the mantle of world No. 1, the balance shifted inexorably in favour of fast court surfaces in Grand Slam events, with the Australian Open continuing alongside Wimbledon on grass for a few years, before switching over to hard courts, and with the court speed being steadily enhanced at the U.S. Open. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) This shift towards faster courts (with only 25 percent of Grand Slams still being played on slower surfaces) arguably assisted Navratilova in unseating Evert from the No. 1 ranking. If the old balance of court surfaces in Grand Slam events had been preserved, Navratilova could have found it more difficult to gain the upper hand over Evert.

Evert was voted the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year on four occasions and received Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportswoman of the Year" award in 1976. In April 1985, she was voted the "Greatest Woman Athlete of the Last 25 Years" by the Women's Sports Foundation. Evert served as President of the Women's Tennis Association from 1975-76, and from 1983 to 1991. In 1995, she was the fourth player ever to be unanimously elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame following a worldwide ballot of 185 sports journalists whilst 1999 saw Evert rated No. 50 among North American athletes of the 20th century. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine named her fourth on its list of TENNIS Magazine's 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS Era.

Personal life

Evert was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Colette Thompson and Jimmy Evert. Jimmy was a professional tennis coach, and tennis was a way of life in his family. Chris and her sister Jeanne Evert became professional tennis players, and their brother Jack Evert attended Auburn University, in Auburn, Alabama on a full athletic scholarship for intercollegiate tennis. Evert is a 1973 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.

Early in her career, before she won her first Grand Slam event, Evert signed a contract with Puritan Fashions Corp. to endorse a line of sportswear. Company president Carl Rosen thought so highly of her that he named a yearling racehorse in her honor. The horse Chris Evert went on to win the 1974 U.S. Filly Triple Crown, be voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly, and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Evert's romance with the top men's player Jimmy Connors captured the public's imagination in the 1970s, particularly after they both claimed the singles titles at Wimbledon in 1974. Evert and Connors also occasionally played mixed doubles together. In 1974, they were runner-up at the U.S. Open. They became engaged, but the romance did not last. A wedding planned for November 8, 1974, was called off.

In the years that followed, Evert was romantically linked with several other high-profile men, including Burt Reynolds, Geraldo Rivera, Adam Faith, Vitas Gerulaitis, Pat Boone, and John Gardner “Jack” Ford, son of U.S. President Gerald Ford.

In 1979, Evert married the British tennis player John Lloyd and changed her name to "Chris Evert-Lloyd." This marriage ended in divorce in 1987.

In 1988, Evert married two-time Olympic downhill skier Andy Mill. They have three sons – Alexander James (born October 12, 1991), Nicholas Joseph (born June 8, 1994), and Colton Jack (born June 14, 1996). On November 13, 2006, Evert filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized on December 4, 2006, with Evert paying Mill a settlement of U.S. $7 million in cash and securities.

Evert and Australian golfer Greg Norman announced in September 2007 their intention to marry, became engaged on December 10, 2007, and announced their engagement four days later during a press conference in South Africa.

Evert operates a tennis academy with Robert Seguso and his wife, Carling Bassett-Seguso.

Trivia

• Evert hosted the TV show Saturday Night Live on November 11, 1989 (Season 15, Episode 5). In that episode, Evert and Nora Dunn acted in a cold opening sketch in which no matter what Evert does or where she goes, Martina Navratilova is there and always outdoes her. The skit poked fun at the past on-the-court rivalry between the two players. Evert was the first tennis player and only female tennis player to host the show.

• Chris Evert's name is often remembered by sports commentators because of the infamous on-screen fight between ESPN's Jim Rome and former NFL quarterback Jim Everett. Rome had made a habit of calling Jim Everett "Chris Everett" (in reference to the tennis player) because of his seemingly fearful actions on the field. On Rome's show, Jim Everett had warned Rome not to use the nickname, but after repeated use on Rome's part, Everett tipped the table between them and attacked Rome.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (18)

Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1974	French Open	Clay	Olga Morozova	6-1, 6-2
1974	Wimbledon	Grass	Olga Morozova	6-0, 6-4
1975	French Open (2)	Clay	Martina Navratilova	2-6, 6-2, 6-1
1975	U.S. Open	Clay	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	5-7, 6-4, 6-2
1976	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	6-3, 4-6, 8-6
1976	U.S. Open (2)	Clay	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	6-3, 6-0
1977	U.S. Open (3)	Clay	Wendy Turnbull	7-6, 6-2
1978	U.S. Open (4)	Hard	Pam Shriver	7-5, 6-4
1979	French Open (3)	Clay	Wendy Turnbull	6-2, 6-0
1980	French Open (4)	Clay	Virginia Ruzici	6-0, 6-3
1980	U.S. Open (5)	Hard	Hana Mandlíková	5-7, 6-1, 6-1
1981	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Hana Mandlíková	6-2, 6-2
1982	Australian Open	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-3, 2-6, 6-3
1982	U.S. Open (6)	Hard	Hana Mandlíková	6-3, 6-1
1983	French Open (5)	Clay	Mima Jausovec	6-1, 6-2
1984	Australian Open (2)	Grass	Helena Sukova	6-7, 6-1, 6-3
1985	French Open (6)	Clay	Martina Navratilova	6-3, 6-7, 7-5
1986	French Open (7)	Clay	Martina Navratilova	2-6, 6-3, 6-3

Runner-ups (16)

Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1973	French Open	Clay	Margaret Smith Court	6-7, 7-6, 6-4
1973	Wimbledon	Grass	Billie Jean King	6-0, 7-5
1974	Australian Open	Grass	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	7-6, 4-6, 6-0
1978	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	2-6, 6-4, 7-5
1979	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-4, 6-4
1979	U.S. Open	Hard	Tracy Austin	6-4, 6-3
1980	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	6-1, 7-6
1981	Australian Open (2)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-7, 6-4, 7-5
1982	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-1, 3-6, 6-2
1983	U.S. Open (2)	Hard	Martina Navratilova	6-1, 6-3
1984	French Open (2)	Clay	Martina Navratilova	6-3, 6-1
1984	Wimbledon (6)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	7-6, 6-2
1984	U.S. Open (3)	Hard	Martina Navratilova	4-6, 6-4, 6-4
1985	Wimbledon (7)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1985	Australian Open (3)	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-2, 4-6, 6-2
1988	Australian Open (4)	Hard	Steffi Graf	6-1, 7-6

Grand Slam women's doubles finals (4)

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1974	French Open	Olga Morozova	Gail Lovera Katja Ebbinghaus	6-4, 2-6, 6-1
1975	French Open (2)	Martina Navratilova	Julie Anthony Olga Morozova	6-3, 6-2
1976	Wimbledon	Martina Navratilova	Billie Jean King Betty Stöve	6-1, 3-6, 7-5

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1988	Australian Open	Wendy Turnbull	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6-0, 7-5

Grand Slam mixed doubles final (1)

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1974	U.S. Open	Jimmy Connors	Pam Teeguarden Geoff Masters	6-1, 7-6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	F	A	A	A / A	A	A	A	F	W	A	W	F	NH	A	F	A	2 / 6
French Open	A	A	F	W	W	A	A	A	W	W	SF	SF	W	F	W	W	SF	3R	A	7 / 13
Wimbledon	A	SF	F	W	SF	W	SF	F	F	F	W	F	3R	F	F	SF	SF	SF	SF	3 / 18
U.S. Open	SF	SF	SF	SF	W	W	W	W	F	W	SF	W	F	F	SF	SF	QF	SF	QF	6 / 19
SR	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 3	2 / 4	2 / 3	2 / 2	1 / 2	1 / 2	1 / 3	2 / 3	1 / 4	2 / 4	1 / 3	1 / 4	1 / 4	1 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	18 / 56

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

External links

• Chris Evert at the Women's Tennis Association
• Chris Evert at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Official Wimbledon website profile
• BBC profile
• Chris Evert at IMDb

Template:S-awards