"Chris Evert didn't joke with the crowd, she lasted 20 years": When Martina Navratilova dismissed her playful side as being the reason for long career
Martina Navratilova once said in one of her interviews in 1993 that a player did not have to be playful on court to have a long career in tennis, citing Chris Evert as an example.
Navratilova entered the 1993 Virginia Slims Championships (now known as the WTA Finals) as the third seed and started the tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Nathalie Tauziat.
The Czech-American was asked in her post-match press conference whether being "playful" on court was needed to have a long career besides training hard and eating well.
Navratilova refuted such claims and said that a player's career won't extend for two more years if they make a joke.
"No, I mean that's just either you are that way or not, period. I don't say, well better make a joke now so I could last two more years, it doesn't work that way," she said.
Navratilova later gave the example of Chris Evert, saying that she did not joke with the crowd but still ended up playing for almost 20 years. She added that one's personality was not linked to their longevity on the court.
"Well, Chris didn't actually joke with the crowd and she lasted pretty much 20 years as well. No, I don't think so, that's your personality, you do it or you don't. That doesn't make for longevity, that's stretching it a bit too far," Navratilova said.
The then-37-year-old suffered a second-round defeat at the 1993 Virginia Slims Championships at the hands of a teenage Mary Pierce. This was her penultimate appearance at the season-ending tournament, with her last coming in 1994 where she suffered a first-round exit.
Martina Navratilova leads Chris Evert 10-4 in Grand Slam finals
Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert locked horns in 14 Grand Slam finals, with the former winning ten of those and the latter emerging victorious in four.
The two faced one another in title clashes in each of the four Majors. They locked horns in three Australian Open finals, with Navratilova winning in 1981 and 1985 while Evert came out on top in 1982. Chris Evert won three of the four French Open title clashes where Martina Navratilova was her opponent while the latter won in 1984.
The Czech-American triumphed on each of the five times when they played a Wimbledon final, as well as on the two occasions when they locked horns in a US Open final.