In the history of tennis, one would always acknowledge the interesting rivalry between Chris Evert and Billie Jean King that inspired players across generations. Evert, a former player, always found the unique element in King and celebrated her glory, although their careers ended long ago. In a touching gesture, Evert recently celebrated an incredible milestone in King’s career, showing why tennis remains a sport that created many inseparable bonds between players.

The former American tennis star always idealized Billie Jean King as her inspiration in the sport and even called her her mentor. Evert revealed getting closer to King after overcoming her ovarian cancer. She has never stepped back from complimenting the former WTA number-one legend in every one of her life’s milestones. This time also, Chris Evert didn’t waste any moment.

King tweeted a photo with Evert sharing how 49 years ago she made history by becoming the first-ever world’s number one WTA player. “49 years ago today, on November 3, 1975, @ChrissieEvert became the first-ever No. 1 ranked player in the @WTA. She would hold the No. 1 spot for a total of 260 weeks,” King captioned the image. Evert retweeted the post and added four red heart emojis expressing her love for King’s incredible career milestone. 

The American former WTA star also wished King her 80th birthday last year with an adorable post. “Happy Birthday to the most wonderful friend and role model to me and many!@BillieJeanKing you have the energy and passion for life and learning like no other. Love ❤️ you,” tweeted Evert. Her words echoed her admiration and respect for the 12-time Grand Slam winner.

For Chris Evert fans, it isn’t unknown how the former star was disliked by her colleagues on Tour. In this moment of jealousy, Evert received solace in King’s guidance and revealed it later in detail. Evert’s statement helped the fraternity understand how she grew so close to Billie Jean King.

Chris Evert had Billie Jean King’s back during her tour days

In 1971, Evert rose to fame at just 17 and became quite a formidable opponent for King and others in the sport. However, her All-American charm might offer her sponsors, and her colleagues felt threatened by her. Therefore, they chose to isolate her. At this moment, King came to Evert’s rescue and held meetings with the players to make them understand the situation.

In an interview with Debbie Millman, Evert said, “There were some of them that were nice, by the way. I wasn’t there, but supposedly, Billie Jean King had a meeting with the other players. She said, ‘Listen, Chrissie is putting money in our pockets. She is bringing more people to the table, to the matches; she is bringing more sponsorship, more money, more publicity, and more TV, and this is very important for the growth of the game of women’s tennis. You are lucky that she’s there.”

Billie Jean King has been an incredibly supportive friend to Evert. The latter also maintained that friendship with so much effort and love. Today, when Evert celebrated King’s milestone, it offered a beautiful glimpse of their relationship, showing how tennis brought people closer despite on-court rivalries.