Chris Evert



Christine Marie "Chris" Evert (born December 21, 1954) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships and three doubles titles. She was the year-ending World No. 1 singles player in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1981. Overall Evert won 157 singles championships and 29 doubles titles.

Evert reached 34 Grand Slam singles finals, more than any player, man or woman, in the history of professional tennis. She reached the semifinals or better, in singles, of 52 of the 56 Grand Slams she played, including the semifinals or better of 34 consecutive Grand Slams entered from the 1971 U.S. Open through the 1983 French Open. Evert never lost in the first, second or fourth round of a Grand Slam singles tournament. In Grand Slam singles play Evert won a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open.

Evert's career winning percentage in singles matches of 90.05% (1309–145) is the second best in the history of professional tennis, man or woman, after Margaret Court's 91.37% (593–56) in the Open Era. On clay courts her career winning percentage in singles matches of 94.05% (316–20) remains a WTA record.

Evert has been president of the Women's Tennis Association on two separate occasions. She was awarded the Philippe Chartier award and inducted in to the hall of fame. In later life Evert was a coach and is now a color analyst for ESPN. She has three sons, Alex, Nicky, and Colton with ex-husband Andy Mill.

Personal life
Evert was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Colette Thompson and Jimmy Evert, and raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. She is partially of Luxembourgish ancestry. Jimmy was a professional tennis coach, and tennis was a way of life in his family. Chris and her sister Jeanne Evert became professional tennis players, and their brother John Evert attended Auburn University, in Auburn, Alabama, on a full athletic scholarship for intercollegiate tennis. Evert is a 1973 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale. Chris, her brother John and sisters Jeanne and Clare all won titles at the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl in Florida. Her sister Jeanne was the only sibling to win both the Under-12 and Under-14 trophies.

Early in her career, before she won her first Grand Slam event, Evert signed a contract with Calvin Klein to endorse a line of sportswear. Company president Carl Rosen thought so highly of her that he named a yearlingracehorse in her honor. The horse Chris Evert went on to win the 1974 U.S. Filly Triple Crown, be voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly, and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Evert's romance with the top men's player Jimmy Connors captured the public's imagination in the 1970s, particularly after they both captured the singles titles at Wimbledon in 1974. Evert and Connors also occasionally played mixed doubles together. In 1974, they were the runners-up at the U.S. Open. They got engaged, when she was only 19, but the romance did not last. A wedding was planned for November 8, 1974, but it was called off.

In 1979, Evert married the British tennis player John Lloyd and changed her name to "Chris Evert-Lloyd." After Evert's affair with British singer/actor Adam Faith, the couple separated, yet the couple reconciled and chronicled their marriage in a biography Lloyd On Lloyd co-authored by Carol Thatcher. The marriage ended in divorce in 1987.

In 1984 she had a home at the Sunrise Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

In 1988, Evert married two-time Olympic downhill skier Andy Mill. They have three sons: Alexander James (born October 12, 1991), Nicholas Joseph (born June 8, 1994), and Colton Jack (born June 14, 1996). On November 13, 2006, Evert filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized on December 4, 2006, with Evert paying Mill a settlement of U.S. $7 million in cash and securities.

Evert and Australian golfer Greg Norman were married on June 28, 2008, in the Bahamas. On October 2, 2009 they announced they were separating after only 15 months, saying in a statement that they "...will remain friends and supportive of one another's family." Their divorce was final on December 8, 2009 after 18 months of marriage.

Current work
Evert operates a tennis academy bearing her name in Boca Raton, Florida. She also helps coach the Saint Andrew's School high school tennis team. She is also a contributor to Tennis magazine in 2009. In June 2011 she joined ESPN as a tennis commentator.