When Chris Evert was a player, she tried to show as little emotion as possible. Doing so might be a sign of weakness. As a human being, though, while Evert always appears to handle issues with class, she also is not afraid to give her opinion on things. That can be both good things and bad.
She recently gave a shoutout to one of her biggest rivals – one who became a close friend after both players were finished with their careers – on social media on Friday to wish them a happy birthday. That rival is Martina Navratilova. Over the course of their careers, the two players met an astonishing 80 times with Navratilova winning 43 of those matches.
In Grand Slams after 1976, Navratilova dominated the rivalry in majors, though. She won 14 of the 18 meetings. That is one reason while Evert got to 18 majors somewhat quickly, Navratilova stayed steady and was better late in her career than Evert was. She also won 18 Grand Slams.
Chris Evert gives Martina Navratilova a shoutout on Navratilova’s birthday
But this is more about the friendship between the two. Meeting another person in so many matches, especially when both players met many times late in tournaments, obviously meant fewer players would have been in the locker rooms, and the two got to know each other extremely well. Having a head-to-head that was so close (43-37) also meant each got to see the other win and lose almost as much.
Navratilova told the Washington Post in 2023 that Evert, “She knew me better than I knew me.” Both persons even had cancer, which they both thankfully survived, at the same time. They will always be intertwined and happily so. We could all learn how to get along with our biggest rivals from Evert and Navratilova.
On Friday, on Navratilova’s 68th birthday (Evert is a year older than her friend), Evert took to social media to say, “Happy birthday to my great friend (and rival!) (Navratilova) who always has my back and continues to inspire me with her strength and resilience. Love our friendship.”
Happy birthday to my great friend (and rival!) @Martina who always has my back and continues to inspire me with her strength and resilience. Love our friendship ❤️ pic.twitter.com/B7xyIqq2ed
— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) October 18, 2024
We should all be lucky enough to have friends like Evert and Navratilova are friends. That is especially true if the person was our biggest rival at one time.
