‘Fought Till the Bitter End’ – Sister’s Failed Battle With Cancer Made Chris Evert Pen Down a Heart-Breaking Eulogy

Known as America’s tennis sweetheart, Chris Evert had a tough battle with ovarian cancer, as she recently finished the final stages of her chemotherapy. Back in 2020, her sister Jeanne Evert Dubin passed away after battling with the same deadly disease.

Despite the loss of her younger sister, Evert stayed strong as she had to fight her own battle after her cancer diagnosis. However, during the funeral of Jeanne, the 18-time Grand Slam champion wrote a heartbreaking eulogy.

Chris Evert wrote a heartbreaking eulogy for her sister’s funeral

Earlier this year, Evert opened up on ESPN, where she talked about her battle with cancer. During that interview, the 18-time Grand Slam champion talked about the passing of Jeanne. “The last 2 1/2 years in Jeanne’s life have been, for lack of a better word, brutal. She dealt with numerous chemo’s, experimental treatments, surgeries, procedures, portals, needles and insidious pain,” Evert wrote in her eulogy. 

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“She fought and fought till the bitter end. For those of us who were on this journey with her, it was heartbreaking to watch,” she further wrote. 

In the same eulogy, she also praised her sister for her resilience and for inspiring her to never give up when the same disease threatened her life. Her sister’s diagnosis was what forced her to do her own diagnosis as well. As a result, she found out about her cancer. Currently, the former tennis star has completed her sixth and final chemotherapy session.

Chris and Jeanne’s tennis career

Chris Evert’s younger sister, Jeanne Evert Dubin, turned professional at the age of 15 in 1973. She achieved a career-best ranking of 28 in the WTA rankings in the year 1978. However, in the same year, she decided to step away from professional tennis after falling in love with the Canadian, Brahm Dubin. One year later, they married each other.

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As for her older sister Chris, she had an amazing career, as many consider her one of the best players of all time. She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, along with 7 French Open titles, the most by any player on the WTA tour. Moreover, she won 157 singles titles in her career, the second most in the history of tennis. Also, she was either no.1 or no.2 in the WTA rankings for almost 10 years and 260 weeks in total.

Evert’s success definitely put pressure on her younger sister, as everyone wanted her to emulate her sister’s success. Despite the outside pressure, they had a pretty strong bond as they followed their own paths.

Do you think Jeanne could’ve had a better career than her sister if it wasn’t for the undue pressure from outsiders and the media?