‘Follow Me Around the Map or What?’ – When Chris Evert Had a Hilarious Reaction to Martina Navratilova’s New Home in Florida

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova share a very strong bond. Both the players have helped in uplifting the women’s tennis standard as well as its visibility. They proved that the WTA has equal potential as ATP and fought the narrow-mindedness of the crowd.

Having spent years competing against each other and struggling for the same goal, they now know one another to the core. Both the 18 times Grand Slam champions are best friends for so long that they no longer have any sort of filter in front of each other.

Chris Evert about her friendship with Navratilova

Evert in 2020, while speaking for a podcast, spoke about her relationship with Navratilova and shared how close they have come over the years. “She lives 30 minutes from me now. She’s in South Florida. What do you get Martina? You follow me around the map or what?,” the former World no.1 jokingly said.

Thereafter she added, “We can giggle and have a glass of wine and tease each other and, and because we’re old. I mean, we’re over 60 for heaven’s sake. So it’s at some point in your life, you’ve just got to let down the just let down the mask and be yourself with one another.” The Czech American was the only one who could hold a candle against Evert. In fact, she was the perfect counter to her playing style.

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While Evert believed in keeping her calm and maintaining an unreadable stern face, the nine times Wimbledon champion had her emotions on full display and opted for an offensive style of playing, spending the majority of her time at the net. However, in contrast to their fierceness on the court, they were really supportive and defensive of each other.

Evert and Navratilova’s rivalry

The seven times French Open champion locked horns with Navratilova 80 times. At first, the latter was of no match to the former’s prowess. In fact, out of the first 20 matches,  Navratilova ended up on the losing side 16 times. Though slowly, she built herself and went ahead to snatch dominance on hard and grass courts out of Evert’s hands.

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Navratilova secured a total of 43 wins against Evert. However, she never was able to catch up to her clay court skills. She only marked three out of the 14 clay-based clashes under her name.