"Would be nice if Jimmy & I could bring off the double" - When Chris Evert spoke about her and then-partner both reaching Australian Open final
Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors both reached the final of the Australian Open in the year when they were dating.
It was 1974 and Evert was the top seed among the women at the Asia-Pacific Major, while Connors was seeded second among the men. The former reached the final with straight-set wins over Katerleen Szeman, Janet Fallis, Janet Newberry and Julie Feldman.
Connors, who was competing in the Australian Open for the very first time in his career, beat Jean-Louis Fallis, Graeme Thomson, Syd Ball, Vladimir Zednik and John Alexander to reach the title clash in Melbourne.
Speaking about herself and Connors both being in the final, Evert said that it would be nice if the two won their respective tournaments. The American also said her then-partner had a better chance of winning his title clash than she did.
“It would be nice if Jimmy and I could bring off the double. I think Jimmy can win, he has a much better chance than I do," Chris Evert said.
The then-women's World No. 1 was set to face second seed Evonne Goolagong in the final. She said that the Aussie would be more "tuned up" than her because of playing relatively tougher matches throughout the tournament.
"Evonne has had much tougher matches than I have during the tourney,” said Evert. She is probably more tuned up than I am."
Jimmy Connors, on his part, said that Chris Evert and himself wanted to repeat their heroics from the 1973 South African Open, when both players won their respective singles event.
"Chris and I would like to repeat our singles victories of the South African championships. This is the first of the Grand Slam tourneys and victories would give us a great start for 1974," Connors said.
Jimmy Connors won his final against Taylor Dent while Chris Evert was beaten by Evonne Goolagong. However, they went on to win their respective singles events at the 1974 Wimbledon Championships.
Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors have three Australian Open singles titles between them
Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors both won the Australian Open in their careers. While the 1974 win was Connors' only title at the Melbourne Major, Evert won it twice.
Her first triumph came in 1982, when she beat rival Martina Navratilova in the final. She won her second title at the Australian Open in 1984, beating Helena Sukova in the final after coming back from a set down.
Evert also came close to winning a women's doubles title at the Melbourne Major, reaching the final in 1988 while partnering Wendy Turnbull.