‘Oblivious and So Naive’ – Chris Evert Fondly Remembers an Innocent Martina Navratilova When She Moved to the US

Martina Navratilova is arguably one of the best tennis players of her time. But there is a chance that none of this would have been possible unless she had made the extreme sacrifice of moving from her home country-Czechoslovakia. She has recalled earlier how hard it was for her to move away from her family and friends to a new country, without the possibility of going back just for the sake of her tennis career!

Chris Evert, her contemporary, rival, and also her teammate has been her friend off the tour for the longest time now. Evert, recently recalled what it was like seeing Navratilova get Americanized. She said that she found Navratilova’s gradual adoption of small American mannerisms quite adorable.

“She was so honest and so oblivious and so naïve and I just, I chuckled. It was cute, it was really a cute impression that I had of her at that time,” she recalled.

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Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s friendship

The duo shared one of the most iconic rivalries ever and Navratilova leads their head-to-head count with 43-37. They were often teammates too, representing the USA together, at various tournaments over the years. So much so, Martina was the one who introduced Evert to her second husband Andy Mill, with whom she has three sons.

She also spoke about how Martina adapted to the culture of the news country. “When you had a sandwich here in Czechoslovakia, you get a thick piece of bread and a little bit of ham and here(in American), you have a thin piece of bread and this much ham. It was like,’Wow. I was in heaven,” Navratilova said.

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“She had this one piece and the tan line was just going all over the place. I mean, everywhere, it was either white or it was tan. She was eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger, she got all this jewelry braced around her neck, she got some rings, and she was Americanized,” Evert added, pointing out how cute it was, and how fun it was for everyone else to watch, how the honest but naïve Navratilova soon became a part of the country she now calls her own!