“I had to do a lot of soul-searching for about 2 years” – When Chris Evert opened up on divorce from John Lloyd

Former World No. 1 Chris Evert once admitted that the toughest time of her life was when she divorced John Lloyd. Besides her glittering tennis career, Evert has also had a fairly noteworthy personal life. She was married thrice following her high-profile relationship with Jimmy Connors. Out of her three marriages, it was her first with fellow tennis professional John Lloyd that made a lot of noise.

She then had an affair with actor Adam Faith, following which Evert and Lloyd separated. Despite reconciling soon after, the marriage didn’t last and they divorced in April 1987.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Evert was once asked about her life and if she had faced any adversities.

“The toughest time in my life so far has been when I divorced John Lloyd [in 1987]. I started to deal with a lot of issues then. I had to deal with the fact that he is a great guy and a great husband, and there is nothing wrong with him. I had to do a lot of soul-searching for about two years: What’s wrong with this relationship? How come I’m feeling the way I am? How come I’m not happy? And then the hurting. If I did hurt him, that hurt me a lot,” the American replied.

“You learn about yourself through those experiences. It’s not that I’ve regretted not having adversity or not having pain in my life, because I’ve had such a good life. I don’t want to wish too hard, because then it will happen, but I think you grow and learn through pain. And I haven’t had a lot of pain,” she added.
John Lloyd on his marriage to Chris Evert: “I went into a world that was way out of my league”

Long after their divorce, John Lloyd admitted that he went into a “world that was way out of his league” and could not handle the razzmatazz that came his way after marrying Chris Evert.
The former British player admitted that he found it hard to deal with all the attention Evert received.

“I went into a world that was way out of my league. I think I had a little bit of preparation, but I wasn’t the same as being married to a world star who was famous beyond belief,” he said (Tennis365.com).
“You don’t think of it at the time and then you go to places. When you marry someone who’s as famous as that, you have to swallow your ego and leave it a door, the front door. There were times when I was referred to Mr. Evert, and all that sort of stuff,” Lloyd added.