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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:
 
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#6 ·
This thread needs a bump. I'm sure there are many more Chris Evert fans out there. Don't be shy now.:)

ball change please - Hi. how are you? :) I've never heard Chris commentate either. But by all accounts (and there have been many) she does not excell in this particular department. ;) Nobody's perfect I guess. We need to do a Board hunt to find all those closet Chrissie fans. :)
 
#7 ·
Hey Doublefault:wavey: My fave Chris match was when she beat Martina in the French 85- how couldn't it be. I also loved the USO 84 final, only because I was so excited that Chris had fianlly won a set against Martina, and looked like taking Martina to the brink for once. But boy, was I disappointed when she lost!

My fave match between Chris and Hana was the 85 USO semi, even though Chris lost- Luckily Hana went on to win in the final!!!
 
#2,344 ·
Interesting, why do you think the 85 U.S Open semi with Hana was your favorite match of theirs. Hana played great, but it was not one of Chris's best matches IMO. It wasnt like the final where Martina played her absolute best but still lost to on fire Hana narrowly.

My fave Chris vs Martina match was the 86 French Open final since after a bad 1st set Chris went into overdrive and proved beyond a doubt her best tennis > Martina's best on clay. The 85 French was dramatic and exciting but Chris's huge mental block vs Martina kept the match closer than it should have been that day.

The 84 U.S Open was depressing since Chris playing really well still lost to an error strewn Martina, and showed the huge obstacle Martina presented for her by then.
 
#8 ·
Hello, ball change please. :) Yes, those matches you mentioned are all great. I liked the FO 85 very much too. Most of my memories of Chris stem from Wimbledon. Eastbourne too!. :) I must admit that the Laura Golarsa comeback had me biting my nails in 89. I think the most frustrating year at Wimbledon must have been 1980. Chris finally beat Martina in the semi's only to lose to Goolagong in the final. I think Chris thought she had won the tourney after beating Navratilova. She certainly underestimated the very talented Mrs. Cawley in the final.

(As you know ball change please) my memory sucks. I'm always getting my years mixed up. :) There were a couple of Eastbourne finals that were classics. Classic Chris/Martina duels. :)
 
#9 ·
That's right DF, the classic Eastbourne finals were in 78 and 79. I wish that I had seen those!, and the 76 Wimbeldon fianl against Evonne.

I just posted in the Ladies thread an interview with Tracy Austin's coach where he basically said tha Tracy was better than Chris at everything. Better groundies, better mental powers. What do you guys think?
 
#10 ·
ball change please. I had one of those Eastbourne finals on video (don't ask me which year) :) Alas it was wiped by a FORMER girlfriend who taped a crappy soap opera right over it. Needless to say the relationship went downhill thereafter. :)

The 76 Wimbledon Final is a match that I have never seen. Only seen the last point where Chris flings her raquet in the air after winning.

Where are all the fans of Chrissie? :)
 
#11 ·
The Laura Golarsa quarter is one that sure has got a special place in my memories. Boy, was I nervous watching that. It would have been such a pity not to reach the semis for her last Wimbledon. Started as a disaster but Chris produced some of her finest shots ever in the come-back games.:eek:
In the "vs Martina classics" I enjoyed the 87 and 88 Wimbledon semis very much, though both she lost but that was good.:eek:

Unfortunately :mad: I did not had the chance to see the USOpen 84 final or the 88 semi in Australia, but the 85 and 86 French Open finals were top. In fact the 85 final is my favorite all-time, all players tennis match:hearts:. When I wonder if I feel so just because I'm a Chrissie fan, I read again all the articles talking about that day and I am releaved to see every body saying how exceptional it was...:)

Last year, I mean in 2000, I was in England at the time of the Eastbourne tournament and when the final was postponed because of rain, they showed one those finals you mentioned, the 78 I think. Knowing only the athletic Chris of the eighties, not the old-fashioned one of the 70ies, I was preparing myself to be disappointed, keeping telling myself "this is going to be so slow, laughable compared to nowadays tennis..." And in fact it turned out it was far to be ridiculous. Still rather quick and great shot selections, great rallies.:p

Chris and Martina, I miss you.:sad:

PS: I don't think Tracy played long enough to have enough facts and figures for fair comparisons. She had Chris' number for a while but then Chris got used to her, improved her game and fitness and fought back. Who knows how the rivalry would have turned if it had lasted longer. To Chris' credit she has been last one of the 2 standing!Tracy deserves a lot of respect for her 2 US Open crowns at a tender age, that's all I can say.;)
 
#12 ·
Pacatale:wavey: I also loved the 87/88 Wimbeldon semis. Both were very similar matches. I have seen some old footage, and for the fact that they used wood racquets, I think that the ball was struck hard and accurately too.

DoubleFault, I understand about the relationship going down hill after that. Anyone that would have taped over a match like that would a soap opera would be dropped instantly!:)

Pacatale, I notice that you posted a great pic of Chris. Do you need your own website to do so? i have some great pics of players from the 80s which i want to share with everyone on the Ladies site, but don't want to maintain my own webpage. Is there any other way?
 
#19 ·
Hey all Chris's fans,:wavey:
I have Chris's match ,'72 Wimby (Goolagong SF) ,'75 USO and Wimby '76 (Goolagong Final), '88 AO (Martina SF) and more matchs.:D :D I also want to share these video to Chris's fans.

I'm looking for '78, '79 Eastbourne Final, '80, '81, '87 Wimby and Chris vs Austin's match if any...

Does anyone want to share please let me know.
:wavey:
 
#20 ·
I found this article about Chris having her first baby.

She's Come a Long Way With Baby Chris Evert Adjusts Easily to Life Without Tennis, Thanks to Alex
The Los Angeles Times

Feb 23, 1992; MIKE PENNER



All around her, the world she once knew, the world she once ruled, spins onward without her.

Martina Navratilova, her co-star throughout a 15-year ride in women's tennis, pounds out another victory in Chicago, eclipsing the record they shared by winning tournament No. 158.

Chris Evert changes another diaper.

Jimmy Connors, 39, her old beau of nearly two decades ago, turns his two-fisted backhand into a cottage industry by reaching the U.S. Open semifinals, reinventing himself as the grand old man of the game and letting the pain-reliever commercials and Tennis magazine covers fall where they may.

Chris Evert sits for another breast-feeding.

Jennifer Capriati, her self-styled, pony-tailed protege, paints her fingernails black, rocks out to Guns N' Roses and has traded in her Bart Simpson T-shirt collection for a crush on guitar player Slash.

Chris Evert stares into the eyes of 4-month-old Alexander James Mill and notes how her life has changed, too.

"You have this little person, this little life in your arms," she says, "and he has these big blue eyes and you don't know where in the world he got them and he just melts my heart. I never want to go anywhere without him. I'm his slave."

Tennis without Chris Evert-you had to suspect it was going to continue. Evert has been retired for two years, and there was never any shortage of challengers to the throne. One, Steffi Graf, has already held it and lost it. Now is the era of Monica Seles. Capriati beckons, and, as always, there is Navratilova, 35 and awaiting the next case of teen-age burnout for her chance to ascend again.

But Chris Evert without tennis? Undoubtedly, a shakier proposition. She wanted a child, sure. She wanted a family, sure. But what would Chris Evert be without chalk lines under her sneakered feet, a rapidly wilting opponent to be nailed to the other baseline and a sterling silver trophy-dish to be held overhead?

Flat on her back on doctor's orders during the rougher stages of her pregnancy last summer, Evert acknowledged she had to wonder.

"I was lying in bed, watching Jimmy do great in the Open, watching Martina do great, and it gave me a lot of incentive to play again," she says. "I was thinking about playing team tennis. I was thinking about lining up some exhibitions.

"Then, I had Alex. I held the baby in the hospital and after the first minute, all those feelings were gone."

Evert gave birth Oct. 12. Evert was accorded the proper treatment due a former star, in exchange for the right of thrusting her private life into the public domain.

So, Sports Illustrated ran Evert's retirement and family-planning announcement as a pay-for-print exclusive.

USA Today got the scoop from Evert's physician that, yes, the pregnancy was a go.

People magazine got the inside story of Alex's birth, devoting a cover, six inside pages to it and a mini-photo album of son, mother and father Andy Mill.

(Cover headline: CHRIS EVERT: BABY LOVE! Cover teaser: After years of longing, a troubled pregnancy and 20 hours of labor, America's sweetheart has an ace named Alex. "I thought, God, it's all been worth it!")

People went on to describe Evert's pregnancy and labor as a gripping ordeal-and Evert did have complications, resulting in six weeks of doctor-prescribed rest to prevent a premature birth and an eventual delivery by emergency Cesarean.

"It was a sensational story," Evert says, "but People is People. You know what you're going to get with them. It was an honest story, though, and the labor was pretty tough, but I'm sure millions of other women go through it."

What millions of other women don't go through: dozens of paparazzi and newshounds camped outside Evert's hospital room, angling for the ever-significant first photos of Alex.

"It was kind of sticky," Evert says. "It was a public hospital, and it has excellent labor and delivery facilities, but the downside was that it was public and every Tom, Dick and Harry could walk right in.

"The press wanted pictures the first two or three days, but Andy and I wanted to wait four or five weeks. So we had a security guy there to keep them out."

Today, young Alex has two sets of photos few other 4-month-olds can equal.

A spread in a national weekly magazine.

And his own passport.

"They shot him from the front and the side. He looks like he belongs in prison," Evert says with a laugh. "He had to get a passport because he's had to travel. He's already been to Japan, Aspen and L.A. He's a great traveler; as soon as the engines start to roar, he falls asleep."

Evert and son get set to fly again Sunday, the destination this time being Palm Springs. The occasion: a women's tennis tournament officially titled the Matrix Essentials Evert Cup, beginning Monday at the Grand Champions Resort.

Yes, at 36, Evert has her own event, so named by tournament director Charlie Pasarell.

Evert figures the least she can do is show up. So she will be the host of a cocktail party and play a few sets of mixed-celebrity doubles with Sonny Bono, Alan Thicke and Pam Shriver.

Which leads to an obvious question:

How is the tennis game?

"It's getting up there," she says. "I've been hitting with some local pros, and the tennis itself is fine. It's the concentration that's off. I'll play two great points and then I'll start thinking about Alex, about what to make for dinner and completely lose my concentration-and concentration was always one of my best assets.

"I'm just not intense anymore. It's not in my vocabulary."

Evert insists that is why she believes she needed to retire before starting a family.

"Evonne Goolagong had a child and won Wimbledon. Margaret Court won some big tournaments after having two children," Evert says. "For me, that would be impossible. Evonne and Margaret had more easy-going natures, they were able to let things slide off their back.

"When I played, I was more intense. I had to be . . . my game depended on it. If I was up all night with the baby the night before a match, it would really affect me. To play my best, I had to be in a certain frame of mind."

Evert is planning to rejoin the women's tour this year, but only for selected events and only in an NBC blazer. She will provide commentary at four tournaments-Hilton Head, the French Open, Wimbledon and the Summer Olympics-and says she has been brushing up in front of her television set at home in Boca Raton, Fla.

Evert watched as Navratilova eclipsed her record of 157 tournament victories last week. "I can't say I was too happy," she says, feigning indignation. "Obviously, I knew it was going to happen. I'm happy for Martina. She's had a rough go, a rough year.

"Records mean a little more to her than they do to me. . . . She got another one of mine last year, most tournaments played. When Martina got this last one, I started thinking, `Let me see, do I have any more records she doesn't have?' Yes!-125 clay-court victories. I know she's not going to break that one."

Some other observations on the current state of the game, lifted from Evert's homework:

-Connors: "The last two, three years, he was losing a lot of matches and it was sad. He never got the credit he was due (in his prime) and you don't want him to keep losing near the end, you don't want him to go out with a fizzle.

"Sure enough, he pulled off what he did at the U.S. Open-and he deserved it. It was great for tennis. If he never wins another match, we'll always have that to remember him by."

-Seles: "I don't think she blew it by not playing Wimbledon last year because, first of all, I don't think she would have won it. She didn't have the grass-court game she does now.

"Deep down, though, I think she knows she made a mistake. I think she learned from it. I think she realizes now the responsibilities you have as the No. 1 player in the world. It's OK to default from Wimbledon because of an injury. You just don't run off without telling anybody what's wrong."

-Capriati: "She's going through some growing pains. (But) I saw her play Monica in the semifinals at the U.S. Open last year and couldn't believe how hard they were hitting. It was the hardest-hitting women's match I'd ever seen. Jennifer and Monica, I think, is going to be the next Martina-Chris rivalry."

A new rivalry is required because Evert broke up the old one during the fall of '89. No regrets, Evert says. It was time.

"I did everything I wanted to do in tennis," she says. "I got the tennis out of my system. I was ready.

"What I want to do for the rest of my life is rest. I've been doing this since I was 6 years old."

Away from the top 10, sequestered in her home with husband and child, Evert wants to send a message back to the world she left behind.

"There is life after tennis, I'd like to tell all the tennis pros out there," she says. "You play tennis for a living, you're going to have your highs and lows. But this, having a baby-this is a constant high. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

"I'd do it again in a minute."
 
#21 · (Edited)
Hello jirobkk

You must be very careful with making more copies of those old classic Evert matches. I have the originals of the Wimbledon ones you mentioned eg. 72 Wimby (Goolagong SF) and Wimby '76 (Goolagong Final). You must have gotten copies of copies from someone....

These matches are not meant to be copied due to copyright regulations. Why don't you send me an email to discuss. I also have the Eastbourne matches as well as some Evert v Austin matches and heaps of others - but they are subject to the strict copyright rules.

However, there are some matches that I have that you are looking for which are not subject to the same copyright restrictions - so you can email me about those if you want eg. 1980 Wimbledon Final etc.

My email address is:
tennisvideos1@bigpond.com
 
#22 ·
I have always been a huge Chris Evert fan. I am in my thirties now, but while in high school, I was a Chrissie fan in the biggest way. My locker senior year was plastered with over 100 pictures of Chris I clipped from every tennis magazine.

A few of you mentioned the 84 final against Martina. Well...I was home alone watching the match, and when Chris won that set, I was so excited that I jumped up, hit my head on the ceiling ( a rather low ceiling) and literally knocked myself out. I eventually woke up and saw the end of the match...

Months later when Chris beat Martina for the first time in a long time I was on cloud nine and posted the headlines cut from all the newspapers in my locker as well...

Makes me think about todays tennis fans..Can you imagine what they would say about a #2 that lost that many matches in a row to the #1???!!

Chris was and is a special champion, and I think today, captured the attention of the american public like no female athelete has to date!
 
#25 ·
My pleasure Double fault:) How did you come to be an Evert fan?
I detested her at first(Virginia Wade was my pet)-but grew to appreciate her class. By 1983 I was cheering her on all the way!
When I get money I want to get all those tapes of old matches. A few that stick out are the US Open semi of 1981 and of course the French of 1985.
 
#26 ·
Hi, Rollo. :) It's difficult to really know why I became a fan of Chris Evert because I have been forever. Ever since I watched her play the Wimbledon Final of 1974 I guess. (on a black & white tv) I was only 6 years old. It wasn't until the '76 Wimbledon final (now 8 years old!) :) that I really started to admire her. She is the reason that I love women's tennis so much.

Over the years Wimbledon became a very difficult time of the year, thanks to a certain Martina (who I have so much respect for)

I was a kid in the 70's. It wasn't just Chris' playing style. I was growing up and Chrissie was a fine looking woman. Testosterone was at work too. :) Can't deny that.

It's kinda hard to explain. I have always been a huge fan of hers. Just the way it is.

As I said. Chris Evert got me interested in tennis from a very young age. So, when you see me rambling on, boring the hell out of the masses. BLAME CHRIS EVERT!. ;) :D It's all her fault.:)

I , too had a soft spot for "Our Ginny" :)
 
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