"I broke rackets and said the F-word many times" - When Chris Evert made honest admission about her practice sessions with her siblings
Chris Evert once opened up about how her behavior on the tennis court during her childhood was very different from how she conducted herself in her professional career. The American also shared that her father, Jimmy Evert, who was a professional tennis coach, had advised her to mask her emotions during matches.
Evert began playing tennis at a young age under her father's guidance, alongside her siblings. She went on to have an incredibly successful career, during which she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles. Apart from her stellar game, the American was known for her composure on the court, which caused her to be called the 'Ice Maiden.'
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2015, Chris Evert recalled an incident when her father, Jimmy, witnessed her lose her temper during a match. She revealed that her father warned her not to showcase her feelings because it would only give her opponent a burst of confidence.
"My dad saw me getting angry one time in a match, he told me, 'Chrissie, don’t let your opponent see how you feel, because they’re gonna say, 'Aha, I’ve got her!" Chris Evert said.
However, the American admitted that her brother and sister could confirm that she frequently cursed and smashed her rackets when they trained together.
"If you were to ask my brother and sister, when we practised, I broke rackets and said the F-word many times," she added.
Chris Evert also asserted that she didn't think it was "worth it" to have similar outbursts during professional matches. However, the former World No. 1 has spoken about losing her cool in juniors, just as other players known for their "icy demeanors," Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer, had done.
Chris Evert: "My father was pretty much dominant in my life, and he made the decisions for me until I was well into my 20s"
During the same interview, Chris Evert opened up about her father, Jimmy Evert's, "dominant" influence on her life, even into adulthood. The 18-time Major champion admitted that she often felt "resentful" toward her father because he would take her away from her friends to make her practice tennis.
While the American acknowledged that she couldn't express her frustration at the time, she could accept that everything had worked out for the best.
"My father was pretty much dominant in my life and he made the decisions for me until I was well into my 20s. As a small kid, I was a little resentful when he started taking me away from my girlfriends' play dates and bringing me over to the local courts and throwing balls at me. I didn’t know how to communicate that at the time. But now I look back and think, 'It turned out OK in the end,'" Evert said.
Chris Evert previously credited her father for teaching her that she would need to make many sacrifices for her career. She disclosed that her father had warned her that he would withdraw his coaching and support for her tennis career if she chose to become a cheerleader in middle school.