Chris Evert - USA 
| Birth Date:
| 12/21/1954 |
Age:
| 58 |
| Birth Place:
| Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Residence:
| Boca Raton, Florida |
| Height:
| 5'6" (1.68 m) |
Weight:
| 125 lbs. (56.6 kg) |
| Year Turned Pro:
| 1972 (retired 1989) |
Plays:
| Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Official Website:
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Twitter:
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Legends don’t loom much larger than that of American Chris Evert, who owns the highest winning percentage (.900) of all time in women’s tennis.
In 19 years as a pro, she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including seven at the French Open and six at the US Open, both of those records. She added three Grand Slam doubles titles and won 157 matches overall as a singles player, finishing as the No. 1 player in the world in 1975-1977 and 1980-1981. Besides her 157 wins, Evert was the runner-up 72 times, meaning she made the finals of 76 percent of the 303 tournaments she played.
She finished in the year-end Top 10 on 19 different occasions. Trained by father Jimmy, himself a former champion, Chris exploded onto the stage as a 15-year-old when she defeated No. 1 Margaret Court in a small North Carolina tournament. The following year she reached the semifinals of the US Open before losing to Billie Jean King, but wowed a national audience in the process by overcoming a 4-6, 5-6 / 0-40 deficit against No. 4 Mary Ann Eisel to win a thrilling 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory.
She achieved a stretch in which she won at least one major tournament for 13 straight years starting in 1974 she dominated the USSR’s Olga Morozova at the French Open, 6-1, 6-2. In 1974, she went 103-7, one of only three women to win 100 matches in a year. She also won 16 of 24 tournaments and 55 matches in a row, an Open Era record until Martina Navratilova broke it in 1984. Success at Roland Garros would become one of her calling cards. She recorded seven titles at the French Open and racked up an all-time record of 72-6 on the legendary clay court.
In 1973, Evert reached the finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon, then returned to both tournaments the next year and won them. At the time, she was engaged to American Jimmy Connors, who won the men’s trophy at Centre Court. She repeated at the French in 1975 and added her first of four straight US Open titles, defeating Evonne Goolagong in the final. Evert would have Goolagong’s number throughout their rivalry, winning 21 of 33 matches against her. Evert was the number one player in the world from 1975-1977, winning three Slams.
In 1979, she won the French again, then took that and the US Open in 1980. She won another Wimbledon championship in 1981 then completed the career Grand Slam by claiming the title at the Australian Open in 1982. She added her sixth and final US Open crown that same year.
Although new rivals, particularly Martina Navratilova, had come on the scene by the 1980s, Evert remained the No. 1 player in the world in both 1980 and 1981, and won three more French Opens (1983, 1985, 1986) before retiring in 1989.
As of August, 2010, Evert holds eight Open Era records – most Grand Slam finals (34), most French Open titles (seven), most French Open finals (nine), most US Open titles (six), most US Open finals (nine), most consecutive US Open titles (four), most consecutive US Open finals (six), most consecutive years with a Grand Slam title (13) and most times winning the US Open in straight sets (three).
Among her contemporaries, only Navratilova (43-37), Tracy Austin (9-8) and Steffi Graf (8-6) had winning records against Evert. Evert was 40-6 lifetime against Virginia Wade, 19-7 against Billie Jean King, 19-3 against Pam Shriver and 9-4 against Margaret Court.
Evert was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year four times and was Sports Illustrated’s “Sportswoman of the Year” in 1976. In 1985, the Women’s Sports Foundation named her the Greatest Woman Athlete of the past 25 years. In 1995, she became just the fourth player ever to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame by an unanimous vote.
Grand Slam Singles Titles
Singles (18): Australian Open (1982, 1984); French Open (1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986); Wimbledon (1974, 1976, 1981); US Open (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982).
Doubles (3): French Open (1974, 1975); Wimbledon (1976).
Personal
Her sister Jeanne was also a WTA pro, ranked as high as No. 9 in 1974. Her short engagement to Connors was called off, and in 1979 she married British player John Loyd, changing her name to Chris Evert-Lloyd until their divorce in 1987. In 1988, she married two-time Olympic skier Andy Mill. The two had three sons then divorced in December, 2006. Evert married Australian golfer Greg Norman in June of 2008, but the two announced divorced in December, 2009.
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