"If she were able to give me a little payment under the table"- When Chris Evert prevented Martina Navratilova from retaining No. 1 ranking
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova squared off in a number of intense matches during their playing days.
However, the two also played a few one-sided matches against one another and one such instance came in the semifinals of the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles in 1987.
Navratilova was the top seed while Evert was the third, and they reached the final four without dropping a single set. The latter produced a dominant performance to win 6-2, 6-1 and book her place in the final, where she would face Steffi Graf.
Navratilova and Graf were both in contention to become the World No. 1 after the tournament, and the former would have retained the ranking had she won her semifinal.
Evert joked after the match that had Navratilova paid her, she would "think" about her retaining the No. 1 ranking.
“That is funny. Martina hasn’t mentioned anything to me. If she were able to give me a little payment under the table, maybe I’d think about it more," Chris Evert said.
Steffi Graf eventually beat Chris Evert 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles title, thus also attaining the World No. 1 ranking. This was her eighth singles title of 1987. Martina Navratilova would never reach the top of the WTA rankings again.
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were at the top of the WTA rankings for a total of 592 weeks
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova are two of the greatest tennis players of all time and both enjoyed hugely successful careers during their playing days.
The two have both been the World No. 1 for a combined total of 592 weeks, 260 for Evert and 332 for Navratilova. From May 1976 to August 1987, Tracy Austin was the only player apart from them who was at the top of the WTA rankings.
All in all, Evert and Navratilova shared a fierce rivalry that saw them lock horns on 80 occasions, with the latter leading 43-37 in their head-to-head. They faced each other in a total of 14 Grand Slam finals, with the Czech-American coming out on top in ten of them.
The last meeting between the two took place in the final of the 1988 Virginia Slims of Chicago, with Navratilova winning 6-2, 6-2.