‘Nowadays It’s All About the Grand Slam’- American Tennis Legend Chris Evert Says Things Were Different Back in Her WTA Days

Chris Evert is one of the best tennis players of all time. The 67-year-old broke into the Tour very early in her career. Over the years, she turned out to be a champion player and collected 18 Major titles by the end of her career. The 67-year-old has a remarkable feat to her name.

She is the winner of the first-ever WTA tour finals. Although today’s tennis is more about Grand Slam, back then, the tour title carried a huge value. In the 2018 WTA tour finals, Chris Evert spoke about the feeling of being the first-ever winner of the tournament.

Evert on winning first ever WTA tour finals

Evert was with her lifelong friend and archrival from playing days, Martina Navratilova. The two were in a mischievous mood, pulling each other’s legs. When the host asked Evert about the feeling of being the first-ever winner of the tournament, the 67-year-old funnily replied, “I don’t remember.”

Further, getting serious about the question this time, she said,

Read more: ‘They Wanted to See Me Cry’- Chris Evert Once Openly Admitted How Martina Navratilova’s Arrival Boosted Her Fame

“It was a big deal. At that time it was Virginia Slims if I’m correct, and we were busy building a tour. Nowadays, it’s all about the grand slam. It’s really interesting, but in our days it was about how many Virginia Slims tournaments could we win and how we could support the tour so at the end of the year the championships it was a big deal.”

Staggering records for Chris Evert

The 67-year-old has won 18 Grand Slam titles in her illustrious career. This includes seven French Open, six US Open, two Australian Open, and three Wimbledon Championships titles. Also, she was the number 1 ranked player for 260 weeks.

The 67-year-old was at her best in the decades of 1970-1980. She ruled the era along with her archrival, Martina Navratilova. Apart from this, she has a unique record of having at least one Grand Slam every year for a record period of 13 years.

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. 

She has a whopping 89.97% winning percentage in singles, which is the second highest in the open era.