"I'd be in the hospital" - Chris Evert imagines herself playing rugby while watching it at Paris Olympics; claims she could never play it
Chris Evert recently tuned into the rugby action unfolding at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Watching the high-intensity sport, Evert opined that she would have never been able to make it as a rugby player owing to the great physical demands that the sport places on athletes.
Evert, along with yesteryear rival and present-day close friend Martina Navratilova, was one of women's tennis' most dominant forces in the 1970s and 1980s. The Florida native clinched 18 Grand Slam singles and three Major doubles titles during her illustrious career, which saw her inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995. To this day, the 69-year-old holds the all-time record of having won the most French Open women's singles titles (7).
In the early hours of Monday, July 29, Evert was watching the 2024 Paris Olympics' women's Rugby Sevens event. As she watched, the former World No. 1 shared her thoughts on X (formerly called Twitter), saying that she thought she would have had to be admitted to a hospital if she played the sport for 15 minutes. She wrote:
"I'm watching a woman's sport I could never play. I admire these women, but I wouldn't last 15 minutes...I'd be in the hospital.. (tearful laughter emoji and bandaged head emoji) #rugby @Olympics," Evert wrote.
The USA women's Rugby Sevens team currently finds itself in second place in Pool C, having won both of its matches so far at the prestigious Games.
Chris Evert was in stitches after Rafael Nadal joke amid Spaniard's Olympics campaign
Rafael Nadal's 2024 Paris Olympics campaign has gotten off to a strong start. The Spaniard has won both his first-round singles and doubles matches. However, there have been concerns surrounding the 22-time Major winner's fitness after he sustained a thigh injury in the buildup to the Games.
Amid the former ATP World No. 1's final Olympics campaign, a fan recently took to social media to joke about the veteran having a hard time keeping up with his young doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz's off-court excursions. The joke drew Evert's attention, and she expressed her amusement at it on X with a series of laughing-out-loud emojis.
Evert's stellar tennis career did not include any Olympic medals. Her sole appearance at the Games came at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where she registered a third-round finish in the women's singles competition.