Tennis Legend Chris Evert Talks Being Single by Choice: ‘I Had to Learn How to Rely on Myself’

“I am not dating anybody, and I am not looking,” Evert, 62, tells PEOPLE Saturday night during the 28th Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic gala at Florida’s Boca Raton Resort & Club. “I needed to be alone for five or six years to find peace in my heart. I had to learn how to rely on myself and not on other people,” continues Evert, who has three sons — Alexander, 26, Nicholas, 23, and Colton, 21 — with second husband Andy Mill, a former Olympic downhill ski champion.

After her short 15-month third marriage to golfer Greg Norman ended in 2009, Evert vowed to look inward, make her own decisions, and become more independent.

“I really needed to be by myself,” continues Evert, who looked tan and trim in a long gown and diamond drop earrings after a day of hosting and playing in the tennis classic at the Delray Beach Tennis Center with her Sunday tournament partner, Dr. Phil McGraw. (This annual event has raised nearly $24 million for Florida charities, including drug abuse prevention.)

Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her stellar tennis career, now spends her days staying fit, eating healthy, and enjoying her success on many levels.

Her regimen includes upper body weights twice a week, playing tennis at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton three times a week, and indulging hot yoga twice a week because it helps her posture, balance and flexibility.

“I feel like hot yoga leans me out, and I love it,” she tells PEOPLE.

Her diet is primarily clean but she is not a fanatic. For breakfast she likes eggs, granola or other cereal, tuna or turkey for lunch, and salmon, rice and a vegetable like broccoli for dinner.

“For some dinners, I will have a grass-fed hamburger or even pizza, and I enjoy a chocolate chip cookie if I want it,” Evert says.

“I can cheat because I exercise.”

She also spends 10 weeks a year doing tennis commentary for ESPN, has endorsement deals for Rolex and other companies, and goes to work every day at the Tennis Academy — a world renowned business that she loves.

Evert enjoys the time spent with her sons who accompanied her to the gala, and she and Mill still enjoy a warm relationship.

“We are family,” she said.

The tennis star maintain a strong outlook for the future, and has no complaints.

“As you get older, your priorities change,” says Evert. “I have found so much peace with myself. I am now busier than ever — and really happy.”