Tennis Forum banner

Chris Evert Thread

392K views 3K replies 139 participants last post by  samn 
#1 · (Edited)
Well Steffi, Jana and Martina N all have threads in their names so I started a thread for Chris Evert.




:bounce:
 
See less See more
1
#1,542 ·
Great to see her facebook site being updated on a regular basis. Liked the new puppy Millie..!! Its says that its their second dog does that mean that she still has Foster..Greg's dog ?
Anyway..hope that she had a really great birthday....the clip of her playing Sue Barker showed just how great her weight of shot was..and also how deep her shot making was. Nick Bolleteri recently commented on this saying that both Chris & Bjorn Borg were the greatest exponents of this and it helped make them the great champions that they were. Its just a shame that she talks herself down with regards to her achievements. That was one of the great things about Greg is that he constantly promoted how great her achievements were...:confused:
 
#1,543 ·
A truly phenomenal player. When I saw the disc of her playing Barker in the finals of the 77 VS I was astonished at how both of them hit the ball. Not so much Evert in the first set when she was oddly lethargic and Barker was thumping the ball. But as the match went on there was more and more indication of how great Evert was. I think she and Borg were fantastic players, the most beautiful from the baseline. Anyway all the best to you for Christmas and the New Year.:wavey:
 
#1,547 ·
Have you checked the new legend profile of Evert at the WTATour site? It's pretty interesting, I'm still checkin for the pics and quotes; Evert fans should see it!
I just got mad when it mentions Chris only lost once before QFs in her Slams career, in 1983, why she also lost, sick IIRC, againt the sometimes lucky ASV :devil: (she got some ill big rivals in her career), at the French in 1988; I get mad when in official big sites they type these mistakes as it is their job and they get PAYED for doing it! Any knowledgeable tennis fan would know these facts.
 
#1,548 ·
I havent seen the profile but will check it out. I know what you mean it is so annoying when we are full of facts and figures and the professionals get it wrong when they write up. I think there is a tendency among tennis people to remember the Kathy Jordan loss at Wimbledon in 83 and to forget that Sanchez Vicario scored that highly significant win at the French Open in 88. That really sent her on the way to victory a year later there. Great effort.
 
#1,550 ·
Daze:wavey:I dont doubt for a moment that Evert was ill. And it would have been tough for Sanchez Vicario to win if she had not been ill. However I still feel she could have done so. Evert was no longer the force on clay by 88 and Sanchez Vicario was on her way to becoming one of the greatest clay court players of her era. I havent seen the match but I guess that if Evert was that ill she would have pulled out. AKA the Jordan match. Surely she wasnt stupid enough to play if she was beyond recovery? Look at the Open in 88- she pulled out then when injured. And Kathy Jordan was more than capable of beating a slightly off Chris on any fast surface.
 
#1,551 · (Edited)
well, what happened is she had beaten sanchez in straight sets without much hassle a couple of weeks prior, and she was looking at the draw and saw a fairly easy flight to the semi if she could just pull through this match, which she saw as the toughest til those final 2 rounds when she hoped she'd feel better. so in that spirit, she went for it...

but sanchez did keep putting the ball back in play, and chris was down 1-6 1-5 and pulled a comeback almost identical to the previous slam, the 1988 AO final with graf, so she was sick... but some great will arose in her as always just before the final card was to be played, which ended up looking like it was a normal kind of set. but it was a total career oddity in reality.

she pulled out of the 88 us open BECAUSE of what happened in this match, knowing that if she wasnt at her best, it was not good enough anymore. In 1983, she could still afford to be a little more cocky about that kind of thing; she had never lost before the semi before so her expectations were different.
 
#1,555 ·
I just finished reading "The Rivals" and have a newfound respect for Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, beyond their accomplishments. There will never be another Chris. There will be never another Martina. There will never be another rivalry to match this one - which is a shame.
 
#1,557 ·
yes, the good thing that came out of austin & jaeger's early career departures is that it allowed fans all over the world to focus on the two real stars. their balance of differences represented parallel opposing forces like no other, IMO. (though i do think mac & borg were a fair competing rivalry while it lasted!!)
 
#1,560 ·
Any of you notice that in Chris's usual letter in Tennis magazine in the new issue she has an ardent defense of Agassi? Including the fact that she also had matches she didn't want to win and didn't, and that he's found a peace of mind everyone would like to have (her access to peace of mind no doubt having been elusive given recent events). I've noticed despite all the coverage of Navratilova slamming him - without having read the book or having any info n a very Nav-like way - when the book came out, there's been no coverage I've seen of her also rather startling take on it.
 
#1,565 ·
I have said all along that I fully understand why Agassi did what he did. Its just unfortunate that he felt the need to tell everyone, I am not certain but pretty sure that tennis players of the past would have included some alcoholics. This is a drug of course although legalised. Navratilova was naieve to comment as she did but I admire the support that Evert has given Agassi.
 
#1,561 ·
1)i didn't think or know that chris was sick when she played sanchez-vicario in 88, what i was lead to believe from what i have read and watched of that match was that chrissie had a painful bone spur in her foot which made it very difficult obviously to move around on the court, slide on clay and to hit off her backfoot to hit her backhand. from points i have seen it's clearly obvious she was protecting her foot and not stepping into her backhand at all, and floating it back, sometimes even almost one handing it in her follow thru because she didn't want to go all out on that stroke and that foot. she also was not moving even at average court coverage. she almost pulled out of wimbledon 2 weeks later because she was concerned about the pain as well as lack of match play both in general and on grass.

2)i think chrissie lost in total 3 matches before the semifinals in her grand slam career right?

once to kathy jordan third round wimby 83

once to sanchez-vicario at the french in 88 (3rd or 4th round?)

once to lori mcneil u.s. open 87 (forgot which round 3rd,4th or quarters?)
 
#1,563 ·
It is very easy and rather cowardly to react to Agassi two or three months later than all the other reactions you can see what works and what not, that is what Chris did. I think Martina was treated very harshly in the States while some other players like Federer, Nadal and Safin said the same things. Nobody wanted to see what Martina really said about the lying. In Europe there was not such a fuzz about Martina. I did not read the book, only excerpts so I may not comment, why do you have to read the book to say you understand what Agassi did? There were many players with rottten parents who forced them to play tennis does that justify using drugs tanking matches etc. I only can say he earned a lot of money by pretending to be someone he was not and Martina lost a lot of money by being honest.This world and these people reward the dishonest.
 
#1,568 ·
Thanks to daze I got Chris Evert´s last ever match, Fed Cup final vs COnchita MArtinez. Watching this match, it is amazing to see how well she is playing. I know the reasons for leaving were mental tiredness etc, but the way she plays in that match would make one think she would have EASILY coped with a few more years on the tour. She coped well with some lethal forehands from Conchita and takes the bal early on many occasions to hit winners or just totally outmanouver her.
It was cool to see Martina on her feet cheering for her. Which makes me wonder if there are any matches out there where you can see Chris rooting for MArtina in the crowd? It would be cool to see that. I cant imagine Chris rooting for ANYone given her demeanor!
 
#1,569 ·
she was often in the stands routing for jimmy connors!!! ;)

i think chris made it a point to be ultra concentrated during those fed cup matches, knowing they would be her last. she didnt want to leave the zina garrison under-performance as her farewell song, even though many remember it that way in any case! but i agree, she played phenomenally tough tennis in those final 2 matches. i am sure she didnt feel she could do that on a regular basis however. it showed if she had no other life on the horizon to go to, she MAY have had that focus & desire left in her... but it just wasnt the case. She was ready to go.
 
#1,572 · (Edited)
Chris was actually a very good team player when she was on Fed Cup and Wightman Cup, as well as WTT. I think she was someone who was genuinely able to separate out team from individual competition. So she would have no problem cheering for Martina, Billie Jean, or Rosie as a teammate, even if she would have to face them another week as an individual competitor. Mind you, Chris was secretly throwing darts out at Tracy Austin when they were Fed and Wightman Cup teammates. You know Chris couldn't stand the b*tch, and was breathing fire threw her nose, or holding her nose, while insultingly cheering for the brat :devil:

Oh relax all! I just love maligning the much maligned Tracy Austin!!
Yep, Evert's Wightman (never lost a singles) and Fed Cup records are very impressive. Her first ever Fed Cup loss was to Cecchini in 1986 when she was past 30 and playing on an injured knee. To Evert's credit she gave Sandra her due ( "she didn't miss a ball", Chris said) and didn't make her shock defeat the center of attention. It was Martina's week to shine and Chris let her have it. Evert was remarkably healthy over her career, but was never the same after her 1986 mid-season injury.

And you might be right about her feelings towards Tracy too, though what she was really thinking in Spain and Berlin was "Thank god that little pinafore brat goes back to high school rather than moving on to snatch MY French-who does she think she is beating me on red clay?";)
 
#1,579 ·
Rollo:lol::lol:And of course the way that Austin won her matches in Madrid and Berlin would definitely have given Evert room to think about the winning of the French Open. Austin and Evert were one of the greatest ever Federation Cup teams on clay. Dennis name one other team that was superior to them? I cant with maybe the exception of Martinez and Sanchez Vicario.
 
#1,573 ·
If anyone is interested in the 86 Cechini match google "Cecchini-Evert". The second result should be "America Survive's Evert's First Loss"

It has a pic of a jubilant Cecchini. Her upset snapped Evert's remarkable streak of 29 straight Fed Cup wins.

Does anyone know if this is the all=time Fed Cup record?

on an unrelated note Hana Mandlikova was married the same day. How's this for a quote: She was asked why she wore casual atire and not white to her wedding.

Hana: "I had to wear white at Wimbledon, so I decided to wear leather today.":lol:
 
#1,584 ·
never having seen the evert loss to ceccini, but reading about it when it happened and now here, it amazes me and quite frankly gets me mad that an opponent can jump and down and go nutty happy on a win, when they know their opponent i.e. evert in this case 1)clearly was injured and 2) would kick their butt 1000 times in a row!

yes, i guess ceccini could be happy on a great victory for herself and her country, but how can a person be so self absorbed and clueless to revel in a victory over a obviously better player like chrissie and this player being injured and not even 50 percent?

it reminds me of a high school match where i played this guy and i won the first set, but i had a injury to my lower back ( it was actually a slightly bruised tailbone when i fell out of my bed and landed right on that spot on the floor a day earlier ) that started hurting more and more as the match when on, to where it felt like needles being injected in my tailbone and i could barely run or move, this opponent started dropshotting all over the place and i could only barely reach any of them by running to the ball with a total straight stiff back, which looked obviously silly and pointless. in hindsight, i shouldn't have played at all, and while i don't argue with his tactics in trying to win i do have a point that this jerk, when he won starting jumping up and down like he won wimbledon! HUH? you jump up and down like some great victory over an opponent who was obviously injured and not well? what a schmuck! later in the season though, payback was given, in the form of myself being 100 percent and i kicked his butt easily.
 
#1,588 ·
I've been watching the clips from some of Chrissie's matches that Chrisevertdotnet has posted on youtube and they are phenomenal. They really give you a sense of Evert's true genius. Her groundstroke technique is sublime. Not one variation from shot to shot and little variation in mechanics through the years, actually as the years progressed Chrissie's strokes got cleaner and cleaner to the point that there was really no flaws whatsoever by the time you get to the '80 Austin match at the UO which to me is shear perfection.
And when talking about major weapons in the history of the game, infrequently is the Evert forehand dropshot mentioned, but that thing is AMAZING, not just in terms of accuracy and placement but also in Chris' ability to alter and adjust the pace and change the direction of the preceding shot. I have never seen anyone dropshot like that...not even close.
Speaking of Chrissie's forehand side, her forehand was pretty awesome back in the day-pre-graphite that is. Her variety on that wing was incredible. On the backhand she pretty much drove through hit with a titch of top-spin, the greatness from that stroke came from placement and pace. The forehand, however, was sometimes looped, sometimes driven, sometimes dropped, and of course her amazing side-spin fadeaway that just died on clay and grass. So much variety. I cannot even tell you what a delight it has been to go back and discover Chrissie's genius!
 
#1,589 ·
I so agree Pam with that. I have many matches now of Evert in the 70s and early 80s and her groundstroke game is perfection. Utterly fantastic to watch and actuallly quite beautiful. So much rightly is made of Goolagong but too little of the particular grace and beauty that Evert brought to the game. Even in the 74 final with Morozova her movement and variety were awesome.:worship:
 
#1,593 ·
I must add that I love watching the Bassett match highlights primarily because Bassett's backhand was AWESOME! Such a weapon and so solid. It was fascinating to watch Bassett's more aggressive-Seles like backhand go toe to toe with Chrissie's more precise two hander. Bassett really held her own in that match, primarily because of the backhand, fantastic footwork and the forehand was relatively on. Bassett's forehand was pretty scary from a tech standpoint, way too whippy and wristy and the point of contact was all over the place. What was interesting to see was how early Bassett took the backhand, you can see the difference in terms of where Evert and Carling were striking the ball, and Carling's was on the rise, while Chrissie was hitting it within the traditional target zone.
 
#1,600 ·
That Amelia Island final against Bassett was a great match, and so much fun to watch. I saw it live, and it was oh so close. Evert wasn't at her best that day, but Bassett was pounding her groundstrokes and put Chrissie on the defensive. Mind you, I know Chris won the French in 83, but I don't think that was one of her best years.
 
#1,603 ·
that final was gorgeous clay court tennis though.... chris was not threatened so she really put on an artful display of arsenal, making it far more interesting for the fans than it may otherwise have been!!!

plus lets face it... she was a babe in '83. ypu can tell she was just beginning to think about doing her nails, at the same moment as martina really dug in to her historical heights. what a clash of desire vs loss of interest at exactly the right time!
 
#1,628 · (Edited)
Well, it was true that Chrissie with a wood racquet didn't fare well against Martina 6 months after the 1982 Australian Open. In fact 1983 was the most lopsided period in their rivalry, with Martina winning all 6 encounters, many blowouts, and poor 'wooden' Chrissie winning just one set, in the 1983 Canadian final.

I think 1986 Chris, up until the desultory US Open semi vs Sukova, was still vintage Chris. I think that loss, and her knee and heart problems after that, signalled the end of what I felt were Chrissie's chances to be #1. Just remember that if Evert had won the US Open she could have claimed #1 for the year in 1986. Alas that was wiped clean in little over an hour after Helena wiped the court with Chris :eek:

Still, to be nearly 32 and in contention for #1 says a lot!!! Martina was never that close #1 at age 32, at least mathematically on the WTA rankings.
 
#1,649 ·
wow, what a great line of respect and admiration for chrissie from steffi when she said after their boca raton match " the only difference between me and chrissie is that chrissie is 34! and later that year 35! and steffi is all of 19!

so basically chris is about old enough to be steffi's mother! lol! of course i guess one could say the same thing when chrissie was 19 and beating up on past their prime billie jean and margaret? although i believe that the age disparity and the talent is not the same! what i mean is that chrissie at 19, and billie jeant at 29 and margaret at 31, so both billie and margaret were still basically in their prime, i mean chris was 19 in 1974, the year before margaret had her unstoppable year in 1973, and the year after 1974 in 1975 billie would win wimbledon, so both were very much still in their prime i think, but chris battling steffi at 34 and steffi at 19, i think its a much greater wider chasm of age and talent, chrissie was really about 3 years past her prime and steffi at her zenith, so you have to give great respect and yes, awe at the talent of 34 year old chrissie!

i truly believe give chrissie her mental toughness when she was younger and at 34/35 on her best days she could be even with steffi!
 
#1,652 ·
I totally agree there and I feel that Everts superb court craft, particularly on clay, would have frustrated Graf frequently. Graf is a GOAT without question,maybe the best, but Evert had such a beauty and tranquility to her game that compared to the hustle and nervous bustle of Graf. The only surface I think she would have struggled is fast indoors where she was a little bit less effective than all outdoor surfaces. And she appeared to love outdoor tennis far more anyway. I wonder if Evert and Graf have any communication now???
 
Top