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Christine Marie Evert (b. December 21 1954 in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida|Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a
former World No. 1 woman tennis player from the
United States. During her career, she won 18 Grand
Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam singles titles, including
a record 7 at the French Open. She also won 3
Grand Slam doubles titles. Evert's career win-loss
record in singles matches of 1309-146, or 90%, is
the best of any professional player in tennis
history.

===Tennis career===
Evert began taking tennis lessons when she was
five years old from her father, Jimmy Evert, a
professional tennis coach who had won the men's
singles title at the Canada Masters|Canadian
Championships in 1947. By 1969, she had become the
No. 1 ranked 14-under girl in the United States.
In 1970, at a small tournament in North Carolina,
the 15 year-old Evert served notice to the tennis
world by defeating Margaret Court (who was the
World No. 1 at the time and had recently completed
the Grand Slam of singles titles) 7-6, 7-6. Evert
made her Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open
(tennis)|US Open in 1971, aged 16. After an easy
straight-sets win in the first round, she faced
the US No. 4 Mary Ann Eisel in the second round
and saved six match points in the second set
before going on to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-1. She made two
further gripping comebacks against seasoned-pros
Francoise Durr (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) and Lesley Hunt
(4-6, 6-2, 6-3), and progressed all the way to the
semi-finals before finally losing to Billie Jean
King.

Evert's game, with booming groundstrokes delivered
from the back of the court, was best suited to
playing on clay courts. But she quickly proved
that her game had enough class to succeed and
excel on all surfaces. When she first started
playing as a youngster, she was too small and weak
to hit backhand shots with one hand and so
developed a two-fisted backhand. This became a
trademark of her game and inspired generations of
future players to copy her. Her  tenaciousness and
refusal ever to concede a point endeared her to
the crowds. Her graceful appearance, good looks,
quiet demeanor and gracious sportsmanship made her
an immediate  favourite with the media and the
fans.

Evert was runner-up at the French Open and
Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon in 1973. A year
later, in 1974, she won both those events to claim
her first Grand Slam titles. Her boyfriend at the
time, Jimmy Connors, won the Wimbledon men's
singles title that year and media attention
surrounded the "golden couple" of tennis that
summer (although the relationship proved to be
short-lived). 

For most of the next five years, Evert was the
World No. 1. She won the French Open again in
1975, and the first of four straight US Open
titles by defeating Australia's Evonne Goolagong
in a three-set final. She also won Wimbledon again
in 1976, again beating Goolagong in the final in a
thrilling three-set encounter. The rivalry between
between Evert and Goolagong had fans compelled in
the mid-1970s. In all, Evert won 21 of their 33
matches. Evert's domination of the women's game
and her calm, steely demeanor on court earned her
the nickname of the "Ice Maiden" of tennis.

A new rival to Evert's dominance emerged on the
scene in the later part of the 1970s in the form
of Martina Navratilova. Though good friends off
the court, their fierce on-court rivalry is
remembered as one of the greatest in tennis
history. Evert had the best of their earlier
encounters, with Navratilova eventually coming to
gain the upper hand in later years of their
rivalry in the 1980s. In total, the two met 80
times with Evert winning 37 matches and
Navratilova 43. Both players finished their
careers with 18 Grand Slam singles titles.

Though successful on all surfaces, it was on clay
courts where Evert was most dominant. Between 1973
and 1979, she won a record 125 consecutive matches
on the surface. She won the French Open singles
title a record seven times. Two of her best
victories came in three-set battles against
Navratilova in French Open finals in the
mid-1980s. In 1985, Evert prevailed 6-3, 6-7, 7-5
(a win which saw her capture the World No. 1
ranking for the fifth and final time). And in
1986, the 31 year-old Evert won what proved to be
her last Grand Slam title by beating Navratilova
2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Evert retired from the professional tour in 1989.
During her career, she won 154 top-level singles
titles and 8 doubles titles. In 1984, she became
the first player to win over 1,000 professional
singles matches. She won at least one Grand Slam
title a year for 13 years between 1974 and 1986.
Evert reached the semi-finals or better at 52 of
the 56 Grand Slams events she entered during her
career. She won the WTA Tour Championships 4 times
and helped the United States win the Fed Cup 8
times. Evert was voted the Associated Press
Athlete of the Year|Associated Press Female
Athlete of the Year on four occasions and received
Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the
Year|Sportswoman of the Year" award in 1976. In
1995, she was unanimously elected into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame following a
worldwide ballot of 185 sports journalists.

===Personal life===
Evert's romance with the top men's player Jimmy
Connors captured the public's imagaination in the
1970s, particularly after they both claimed the
singles titles at Wimbledon in 1974. They became
engaged, but the storybook romance did not last.
Their relationship became strained and a wedding
planned for October 1974 was called off.

In the years that followed, Evert was romanticly
linked with several other high-profile men.  She
dated, among others, actor Burt Reynolds, Jack
Ford (son of US President Gerald Ford) and had an
affair with the married British rock star Adam
Faith.

In 1979, Evert married the United Kingdom|British
tennis player John Lloyd (tennis player)|John
Lloyd (and for many years she was known as Chris
Evert-Lloyd). However the marriage ended in
divorce in 1987.

In 1988, Evert married two-time Olympic
Games|Olympic downhill skier Andy Mill. The couple
have three sons – Alexander James (born
1991), Nicholas Joseph (born 1994) and Colton Jack
(born 1996).

Evert is a 1973 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas
High School in Fort Lauderdale|St. Thomas Aquinas
High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

== Grand Slam singles finals==

===Wins (18)===  
 Year     Championship            Opponent in
Final          Score in Final
 1974     French Open             Olga Morozova   
          6-1, 6-2 
 1974     Wimbledon               Olga Morozova   
          6-0, 6-4 
 1975     French Open             Martina
Navratilova        2-6, 6-2, 6-1 
 1975     US Open                 Evonne Goolagong
          5-7, 6-4, 6-2 
 1976     Wimbledon               Evonne Goolagong
          6-3, 4-6, 8-6 
 1976     US Open                 Evonne Goolagong
          6-3, 6-0 
 1977     US Open                 Wendy Turnbull  
          7-6, 6-2        
 1978     US Open                 Pam Shriver     
          7-5, 6-4 
 1979     French Open             Wendy Turnbull  
          6-2, 6-0 
 1980     French Open             Virginia Ruzici 
          6-0, 6-3 
 1980     US Open                 Hana Mandlikova 
          5-7, 6-1, 6-1 
 1981     Wimbledon               Hana Mandlikova 
          6-2, 6-2 
 1982     Australian Open         Martina
Navratilova        6-3, 2-6, 6-3
 1982     US Open                 Hana Mandlikova 
          6-3, 6-1 
 1983     French Open             Mima Jausovec   
          6-1, 6-2 
 1984     Australian Open         Helena Sukova   
          6-7, 6-1, 6-3 
 1985     French Open             Martina
Navratilova        6-3, 6-7, 7-5 
 1986     French Open             Martina
Navratilova        2-6, 6-3, 6-3 

===Runner-ups (17)===  
 Year     Championship            Opponent in
Final          Score in Final
 1973     French Open             Margaret Court  
          6-7, 7-6, 6-4 
 1973     Wimbledon               Billie Jean King
          6-0, 7-5
 1974     Australian Open         Evonne Goolagong
          7-6, 4-6, 6-0 
 1978     Wimbledon               Martina
Navratilova        2-6, 6-4, 7-5 
 1979     Wimbledon               Martina
Navratilova        6-4, 6-4 
 1979     US Open                 Tracy Austin    
          6-4, 6-3 
 1980     Wimbledon               Evonne Goolagong
          6-1, 7-6 
 1981     Australian Open         Martina
Navratilova        6-7, 6-4, 7-5 
 1982     Wimbledon               Martina
Navratilova        6-1, 3-6, 6-2 
 1983     US Open                 Martina
Navratilova        6-1, 6-3 
 1984     French Open             Martina
Navratilova        6-3, 6-1 
 1984     Wimbledon               Martina
Navratilova        7-6, 6-2 
 1984     US Open                 Martina
Navratilova        4-6, 6-4, 6-4 
 1985     Australian Open         Martina
Navratilova        6-2, 4-6, 6-2 
 1985     Wimbledon               Martina
Navratilova        4-6, 6-3, 6-2 
 1988     Australian Open         Steffi Graf     
          6-1, 7-6 

==External links==
*wta|id=50020|name=Chris Evert
*
http://www.tennisfame.com/enshrinees/chris_evert.h
tml International Tennis Hall of Fame profile 
*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/wimbledon_h
istory/3742117.stm BBC profile
*
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014187
.html ESPN.com article 

Tennis World Number Ones (women)