Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player.
Evert was born in 1954 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Colette (née Thompson) and Jimmy Evert, and raised in a devout Catholic family. She is a 1973 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale.
She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships and three doubles titles. She was the year-end world no. 1 singles player in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1981. Overall, Evert won 157 singles titles and 32 doubles titles.
Evert reached 34 Grand Slam singles finals, more than any other player in the history of professional tennis. She holds the record of most consecutive years (13) of winning at least one Major title.
In singles, Evert reached the semifinals or better in 52 of the 56 Grand Slams she played, including the semifinals or better of 34 consecutive Grand Slams entered from the 1971 US Open through the 1983 French Open.
Evert never lost in the first or second round of a Grand Slam singles tournament and lost in the third round only twice. In Grand Slam women's singles play, Evert won a record seven titles at the French Open and a co-record six championships at the US Open, tied with Serena Williams.
Evert's
career winning percentage in singles matches of 90.00% (1309-146) is
the fifth highest in the history of tennis, for men or women. On clay
courts, her career winning percentage in singles matches of 94.55%
(382-22) remains a WTA record.
More information: Chris Evert
Evert served as president of the Women's Tennis Association for eleven calendar years, 1975-76 and 1983-91. She was awarded the Philippe Chatrier award and inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In later life, Evert was a coach and is now an analyst for ESPN, and has a line of tennis and active apparel.
Evert began taking tennis lessons from her father Jimmy Evert when she was five years old. He was a professional tennis coach who had won the men's singles title at the Canadian Championships in 1947.
Evert was voted the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year on four occasions and was the first female athlete to be Sports Illustrated magazine's sole recipient of 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 during 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.
In 1997, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) presented her with its highest accolade -the Philippe Chatrier Award- for her contributions to tennis, whilst 1999 saw Evert rated No. 50 among ESPN's Greatest North American athletes of the 20th century. Evert was awarded the International Club's prestigious Jean Borotra Sportsmanship Award in 2001.
In 2005, Tennis named her fourth on its list of 40 Greatest Players of the Tennis era.
In 2012, Tennis Channel conducted a poll of players and experts to determine the 100 Greatest Players of all-time, in which Evert ranked ninth overall, and fourth highest among women finishing behind Graf, Navratilova, and Court in that order.
In June 2013, Evert was awarded a special merit from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. They presented her their gold ring in recognition of her outstanding achievements both on and off the tennis court.
Evert was a baseline player, who is credited with revolutionising the sport of tennis. She was known for her consistent, counterpunching game, with her being described retrospectively by the International Tennis Hall of Fame as a human backboard.
More information: Twitter-Chris Evert
Evert was one of the first players to play exclusively from the baseline, typically approaching the net to retrieve short balls only; towards the end of her career, however, Evert would approach the net to end points more frequently.
Evert's forehand was hit flat, with consistent depth and power, penetrating deep into the court; towards the end of her career with the development of graphite technology, she would begin to apply more topspin to her forehand.
Evert was one of the first exponents of the double-handed backhand on the WTA tour, which, whilst not having the variety and flexibility that a one-handed backhand afforded, provided power and consistency that was previously unseen on the tour, and would later become the norm for female tennis players. She was adept at absorbing and redirecting power with both her forehand and her backhand, being able to create sharp angles and hit winners from any position on the court; despite this, Evert would not typically hit large numbers of winners, instead predicating her game on the retrieval of balls with devastating accuracy, and keeping unforced errors to a minimum.
Evert did not possess a powerful serve, however, it was reliable and accurate.
Evert possessed delicate touch, and had one of the most effective drop shots at the time. Playing in an era where serve and volleying was the dominant style of play, Evert was able to hit difficult passing shots with ease, pushing her opponents behind the baseline, and preventing them from rushing the net.
Evert's greatest strengths on court were her speed, detailed footwork, court coverage, fitness, consistency, and mental fortitude. Despite having success on all surfaces, Evert's favourite surface was clay, where the high bounce and slower speed afforded by the surface allowed her to execute her measured, defensive style of play with tremendous success; this is highlighted by her career 382-22 (94.6%) winning record on the surface. Due to her composure, mental toughness, and elegant style of play, Evert was known as the Ice Princess.
More information: Instagram-Chris Evert
In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.
Chris Evert
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