Tennis Legends: Chris Evert - 18-time Grand Slam singles champion famed for rivalry with now best friend Martina Navratilova

Chris Evert is one of the most successful and popular tennis players of all-time. A darling of the American crowds and in many other places, she thrilled crowds with her elegance, unerring accuracy and intoxicating rivalry with Martina Navratilova.

Born 21st December 1954 to parents Collette and Jimmy, Evert was raised in a deeply catholic family. She's an alumni of St Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.

Chris and her sister Jeanne both turned professional after being guided initially by their tennis coach father. He was a past winner of the Canadian Singles Championship.

Evert first tasted success on the main tour when still just 16, triumphed at the Virginia Slims of Fort Lauderdale event in January of 1971. This would be the first of a staggering 157 singles titles from 230 finals, at the time of her retirement a record eventually bettered by Martina Navratilova. The early years of her career were the most prolific for tour titles. Her personal best tally of 16 was recorded in both 1975 and 1976. Her win rate of 89.97% is the second best of the Open Era.

At Grand Slam level, Evert reached her first final at the Australian Open in 1973, losing to home star Margaret Court. She would then lose her next two Slam finals to Billie Jean King (1973 Wimbledon) and Evonne Goolagong (1974 Australian Open).

The breakthrough at the sport’s highest level would come when Evert thrashed Olga Morozova in the French Open final. She then replicated this result at the Wimbledon final later that summer. This pair of successes established Evert as the pre-eminent female player of her generation, a status largely unchallenged until the 1970s transitioned into the 1980s.

Evert was at her most dominant on clay. She remains the record-holder for most French Open Singles titles by a woman - seven won across a 12 year stretch, including defending the title on three separate occasions. Her counter-punching style made Evert adept for the slower surface and the longer rallies that often ensue. Her unforced error count was often remarkably low. The American once enjoyed a 125 match winning streak on the red stuff. This was soon followed by a further streak of 64 match wins in succession on clay.

Evert recorded an astonishing win rate of 94 55% on clay but the US Open was Evert's second most successful major. She created a dynasty, winning four titles in a row between 1975 and 1978. Another two titles were accrued in 1980 and 1982, giving her six titles in eight years. In the Open Era, only Serena Williams has managed to match the haul of Evert in New York. Evert is the only female player to win the US Open on two different surfaces.

Like many top players of her era, appearances at the Australian Open were not as frequent compared to the other Slams. She still managed to claim the title in 1982 and 1984. She featured six times in the main draw and never failed to reach the final.

The perennially popular Evert lacked natural grass-court expertise. Serve and volley was the primary gamestyle on grass in those days. The baseline game of Evert did present the opportunity to use the serve and volley brigade as a target for her metronomic groundstrokes. A return of three Wimbledon titles was a fine tally, especially when factoring in her principal rival Navratilova being the greatest ever on grass. Evert lost in seven finals at SW19, with four of those against Navratilova.

One metric that sets Evert apart in the history books is her consistency at reaching the latter stages of Grand Slams. From 56 Grand Slam appearances Evert reached at least the semi-finals on 52 occasions, including a remarkable 34 successive appearances. This is a ratio unprecedented in the Open Era. These last four appearances were converted into 34 finals. 18 of which saw Evert come out on top. Serena Williams (23) and Steffi Graf (22) are the only players in the Open Era to have won more Slams than Evert.

Evert's rivalry with Navratilova is perhaps the sport’s most iconic, in the women's game beyond comparison. They met on 80 occasions, with Navratilova finishing 43-37 up in all matches. Tellingly, Navratilova's advantage becomes more handsome in Grand Slam finals, besting Evert in 10 of their 14 clashes. A lot of Evert’s success in the rivalry came when Navratilova was less established. After 1978, Evert enjoyed just one more year where she accrued the greater number of victories over the other. They last met in 1988.

It was a rivalry that emphasised the old adage about the best matches featuring a clash of styles: Evert's baseline supremacy against the attacking serve/volley approach of the muscular Navratilova. The contrast in physiques and how the crowd perceived them added to the compelling drama they often served up. Evert was often the crowd favourite, embodying for much of the public a clean cut, girl next door image, at odds with how some felt Navratilova was a little too pugnacious and outspoken.

In service of her country, Evert was part of eight winning Fed Cup squads for the USA. This makes her one of the competition's most successful players. Her final match as a professional was in the 1989 final against Spain. Evert contributed by winning a singles rubber against Conchita Martinez.

The stylish Evert spent 260 weeks as world number one. She was the first woman to officially sit atop the rankings in 1975. Ten years and she regained it, resulting in Evert being the oldest world number one at the age of 30. A record that was eventually surpassed by Serena Williams.

In the early part of her career, Evert participated in Grand Slam Doubles events. She partnered Olga Morozova to win the 1974 French Open. A further two successes came with Navratilova (1975 French Open and 1976 Wimbledon). A factor in discontinuing their emerging alliance was how they were now becoming fierce rivals in singles competition. Evert supplemented her trio of Grand Slam doubles titles with a further 29 in WTA Tour events.

Evert has been married on three occasions. Before her first marriage she was involved in a relationship with fellow tennis legend Jimmy Connors. A marriage date was arranged but eventually called off. Her first husband was another tennis pro, Britain's John Lloyd, a less illustrious figure than Connors but the tabloids still gave their relationship much attention, particularly in Britain. She became Chris Evert Lloyd while they were together. Their marriage initially hit the rocks due to Evert's infidelity with pop star Adam Faith. They reconciled but only briefly, divorcing in 1987. A second marriage soon followed to US skier Andy Mill, introduced to her by Navratilova, in 1988. They have three sons but divorced in December 2006. The sporting theme continued when marrying for a third time to Australian golfer Greg Norman (two-time major winner) in June 2008. A divorce was confirmed late in 2009.

Evert has been recognised with many awards. She was the maiden outright recipient of Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year in 1976. In April 1985, was voted Greatest Female Athlete of the Last 25 Years by the Women's Sport Foundation. The International National Tennis Federation awarded Evert with their highest accolade - the Phillipe Chatrier Award - for her record and dedication within tennis.

A horse called Chris Evert was named in her honour. It went on to win the 1974 Fillies Triple Crown. A horse now in the National Museum of Horse Racing. Evert has been a highly accomplished broadcaster for various media outlets since retirement. This has included ESPN in her native America. More recently, Evert can be heard on TNT Sports coverage of the French Open in the UK. The BBC coverage of Wimbledon usually obtains Evert's opinion in the build-up to the Women's Singles Final. 

Four years ago Evert became an advocate of the new Women's Sports Policy Working Group. They were founded in response to former President Joe Biden making it compulsory for inclusion of transgender athletes.

Evert's sister Jeanne sadly died of ovarian cancer after two years of being ill. A consequence of this bereavement was Evert discovering that she had contracted the BRCA gene mutation. Cancer was found in her fallopian tubes. Her chemotherapy came to an end in 2022 but the cancer returned in 2023. She thankfully announced, in 2024, that she'd been given the all-clear. Her battle overlapped with Navratilova battling her own cancer diagnosis. It further strengthened their friendship.

Because her playing career is so often intertwined with Evert's rivalry against Navratilova, her record is arguably not given enough credit, due to the Czech-born American getting the better of it. Evert matched her great rival in terms of Slams won and bettered her record for appearances in Grand Slam finals and semi-finals. She also holds a number of significant outright records, a number already mentioned. The greatest ever on clay, Evert redefined women's tennis, being one of the first players to play much of their tennis stationed on the baseline. This is now a template the overwhelming majority of today's players replicate.