‘Her Little Eyes Got So Big’- Chris Evert’s Display of Empathy for a Young Martina Navratilova as She Was in Awe of the New-Found Independence in America

Despite being one of the best tennis players to ever grace the courts of professional tennis, Chris Evert is very humble. This humility was visible even when she was young and thriving with top ranking to her name. Moreover, Her rivalry with Martina Navratilova started on the ground of compassion for her opponent.

Navratilova was new to the ways of living in the USA after her upbringing in a country that was undergoing political turmoil. Evert talked about her first impression of Navratilova and the tender attitude she developed towards her.

Chris Evert on developing a soft spot for Martina Navratilova

Chris Evert was already thriving on the court when Navratilova came to play on the court professionally. The new country and its ways fascinated Navratilova when she first came to the USA. Evert recalled in an old interview about her first impression of Navratilova. She said, “Every time I saw her she was eating McDonald’s hamburgers or pancakes.”

She sympathized with the Czech player and said, “Who wouldn’t be, coming from a place where there was no food like that?” Evert remembered how fascinated Navratilova was with everything in the US. She said, “Her little eyes got so big, she just couldn’t get enough of the freedom here.”

READ MORE: ‘Nobody Really Wants To…’ – When Martina Navratilova Was Disappointed With the Likes of Roger Federer and Justine Henin for Not Invoking Old-School Tennis

Chrissie had developed a soft corner for her and said, “She was really innocent in the beginning. What a creep I would have been to take advantage of her.”

How did the rivalry come out to be?

At that point, none of the players thought that they would face each other 80 times on the court. Out of this, 60 times would be at the finals and 14 times at the grand slam finals. Their rivalry brought crowds to the stadium which eventually increased corporate interest in women’s tennis.

WATCH THIS STORY: ‘Seems to Get Injured a Lot’ – Martina Navratilova Once Used Serena Williams’ Example to Talk About the ‘Fragmented’ Nature of Women’s Tennis. 

The two players changed the face of women’s tennis. Interestingly, such a long rivalry ended up with both the players bagging 18 grand slam titles each.