50 Fun Facts About Chris Evert

Chris Evert represented which country?

She helped the US win the Fed Cup eight times and played her last match in the 1989 final.

Who was Evert's greatest rival?

Between them they held the No. 1 ranking for 592 of the first 615 weeks it existed.

On which surface was Evert most dominant?

Her 382–22 record on the surface, a 94.6% win rate, is still a WTA Tour record.

Evert's calm demeanour on court earned her which nickname?

She was also called the Ice Princess; the Hall of Fame later described her game as a 'human backboard'.

Which stroke did Evert help make standard on the women's tour?

She played almost entirely from the baseline in an era when serve-and-volley was the dominant style.

Evert was engaged in 1974 to which men's tennis star?

A wedding was set for November 8, 1974; it was called off and they occasionally played mixed doubles together instead.

Which network did Evert join as a tennis analyst in 2011?

She joined ESPN's tennis coverage in 2011; she has also been publisher of Tennis magazine and runs an academy in Boca Raton with her brother John.

In which Florida city was Evert born?

Her first senior tournament was in her home town in 1969, where she reached the semifinals aged 14.

How many French Open singles titles did Evert win?

The record stood for 27 years until Rafael Nadal passed it in 2013; it remains the women's record.

How many Grand Slam singles titles did Evert win in total?

Seven French, six US, three Wimbledon and two Australian, from a record 34 finals.

Which golfer did Evert marry in 2008?

They announced a separation after 15 months and were divorced by December 2009.

Who broke Evert's record of seven French Open singles titles in 2013?

Nadal also passed her record of ten clay-court major titles when he won his 11th French in 2018.

The Hall of Fame described Evert as a 'human' what?

She rarely hit many winners, instead returning everything with accuracy and keeping errors to a minimum.

In which year did Evert retire from the professional tour?

She left with 157 singles titles, then a record for any player, male or female.

How many Wimbledon singles titles did Evert win?

Grass was Navratilova's territory; their 1978 Wimbledon final is still rated one of the best ever played there.

Evert married which British tennis player in 1979?

She played as Chris Evert Lloyd until their 1987 divorce; their marriage was chronicled in a book co-written by Carol Thatcher.

Evert's record as oldest WTA No. 1 was broken in 2013 by whom?

Evert regained the top spot in November 1985 at 30 years and 11 months.

Evert served eleven years as president of which body?

She was also the very first No. 1 when the association's computer rankings began in November 1975.

How many times was Evert the year-end world No. 1?

Five in a row from 1974 to 1978, then again in 1980 and 1981.

Evert's career singles match win rate was roughly what?

1,309 wins against 146 losses, second in the Open Era for either sex.

Evert was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in which year?

She was only the fourth player ever elected unanimously.

Which two majors did Evert win in 1974, her first Grand Slam titles?

She had been runner-up at both the year before, and finished 1974 with a 100–7 record.

How many times did Evert win the WTA Tour Championships?

Her 1976 loss in that event's final to Evonne Goolagong Cawley was one of only 13 defeats to the Australian in 39 meetings.

Evert completed the career Grand Slam by winning which tournament in 1982?

She beat Navratilova in three sets on grass, a rematch of the previous year's final which she had lost.

How many weeks did Evert spend at No. 1 in the WTA rankings?

Fourth-most of all time; Navratilova's 332 is the number that beat her.

Evert won how many consecutive matches on clay from 1973 to 1979?

She lost only eight sets in the whole run, then immediately started another streak of 64.

Who beat 16-year-old Evert in the 1971 US Open semifinal?

On the way she saved six match points against Mary-Ann Eisel; the loss ended a 46-match winning streak.

What was Evert's final head-to-head record against Navratilova?

Evert led the rivalry for its first six years; Navratilova dominated from 1979 on and led 11–3 on clay going the other way.

Evert's tennis academy, run with her brother John, is in which Florida city?

Jennifer Capriati, another Floridian, broke Evert's debut-tournament record at Boca Raton in 1990.

Evert's second husband, whom she married in 1988, was a star in which sport?

Navratilova made the introduction; the couple had three sons before divorcing in 2006.

Who ended Evert's 125-match clay streak at the 1979 Italian Open?

Evert said afterwards, 'Not having the record will take some pressure off me, but I am not glad to have lost it.'

Evert was the first No. 1 when the WTA computer rankings began in which year?

She had already been considered the unofficial No. 1 since 1974.

For how many consecutive years did Evert win at least one major?

Remarkably, she skipped ten majors during her peak, mostly the Australian Open and three French Opens.

Evert contested a record how many major singles finals?

She also reached 34 consecutive major semifinals from her 1971 debut until Wimbledon 1983.

How many matches did Evert and Navratilova play against each other?

Sixty of them were finals, making it the most prolific rivalry of the Open Era.

How many career singles titles did Evert win?

At her retirement that was the record for any player; Navratilova later passed it.

How old was Evert when she regained the No. 1 ranking in November 1985?

Her 1985 French Open final win over Navratilova, 6–3, 6–7, 7–5, is what put her back on top.

In which year did Evert win both Wimbledon and the US Open, the only time she did?

It earned her Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, the first woman to be the sole recipient.

Evert skipped the French Open from 1976 to 1978 to play in which competition?

Top players then attached less weight to the traditional Slams than they do today, and she still won seven.

Which of Evert's siblings also played professional tennis?

Their father Jimmy was a coach who had won the Canadian Championships in 1947.

How many Fed Cup titles did Evert help her country win?

Her very last match was a 6–3, 6–2 win over Conchita Martínez in the 1989 Fed Cup final.

A racehorse named after Evert won what in 1974?

Sportswear boss Carl Rosen named the yearling in her honour before she had even won a major; it is in racing's Hall of Fame.

Who beat Evert in the 1983 Wimbledon third round, ending her 34-major semifinal run?

She had food poisoning and the club refused a delay; the loss also ended her bid to hold all four majors at once.

Evert's father Jimmy won which national title in 1947?

He started coaching his daughter when she was five.

Aged 15, Evert beat Grand Slam holder Margaret Court in which city in 1970?

She won 7–6, 7–6 against the world No. 1 who had just completed the calendar Grand Slam.

Evert's 1985 French Open final win over Navratilova ended with what third-set score?

She had let a 5–3 lead slip; historian Steve Flink ranks it among their two most significant matches.

Who was Evert's opponent in her final match, the 1989 Fed Cup final?

She won in straight sets, a fitting way to go out.

Evert won a major doubles title with which Soviet player?

Evert never lost to her in singles, going 15–0.

Which journalist declined to rank Evert year-end No. 1 for 1974?

She had gone 100–7 with 16 titles that year, including her first two majors.

Evert's first marriage was strained by her affair with which British singer-actor?

The couple reconciled long enough to co-author a book about the marriage before divorcing in 1987.