Chris Evert
Chris Evert
Christine Marie "Chris" Evert, known as Chris Evert-Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships and three doubles titles. She was the year-ending World No. 1 singles player in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1981. Overall Evert won 157 singles championships and 32 doubles titles...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth21 December 1954
CityFort Lauderdale, FL
CountryUnited States of America
She's great for the game. She has that combination of glamour and hard work ethic, ... I think her motives are pure as far as, it means more to her to win tennis tournaments than to be on the cover of a magazine.
When I was younger, I was a robot. Wind her up and she plays tennis.
In tennis, at the end of the day you're a winner or a loser. You know exactly where you stand.... I don't need that anymore. I don't need my happiness, my well-being, to be based on winning and losing.
Of all my achievements in tennis, I'm probably as proud of my record on clay courts as any of my Wimbledon, U.S. Open or French singles titles.
To be a tennis champion, you have to be inflexible. You have to be stubborn. You have to be arrogant. You have to be selfish and self-absorbed. Kind of tunnel vision almost.
Training the body to obey the mind as I have done differs from the more conventional method of getting the mind to obey the body.
If you're a champion, you have to have it in your heart.
In America we're looking for future stars and we're coming up short a bit, ... There is so much now to choose from. In the '70s (when Evert was the No. 1 player) we didn't have women's basketball and soccer. A lot of our great athletes are going into other sports. But worldwide tennis has made a big jump.
Every time I played a pro from then on, I never felt intimidated or felt like there was such a big gap. I always felt like there's no pressure.
Even though there are a lot of bright tennis players out there, you still have to protect yourself and save all your mental and emotional energies for tennis.
Billie Jean and I have a very special relationship. We were perceived as different in the beginning, but now we laugh because we are very much alike. We're strong, we're stubborn. In a lot of ways free spirits, open-minded.
My first U.S. Open I think was just very special for me because that was sort of the beginning of what was a 'Cinderella' story for me.
Without getting into it, just that I'm not as goody two-shoes as people think. I'm a normal woman. I've dated a lot of guys, I've had a few drinks, I've cursed, I've been rude to my parents.
If you're a champion, you have to have it in your heart. You can have the greatest coaches in the world, all the opportunities to play, and the greatest equipment, but if you don't have it inside, you're not going to make it. On the other hand, if you don't have any of those luxuries but you have heart and courage and the guts to go out there and grind it out, then you'll make it.