"I wasn't a naturally strong athlete like Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, or Serena Williams" - When Chris Evert revealed that she relied on her mental strength on the court
Considered to be one of the best tennis players ever, Chris Evert is an 18-time Grand Slam champion who dominated the women's roster right through the 1970s and the 1980s.
However, the 67-year-old believes that since she wasn't naturally strong and quick like other players such as Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams. Evert stated that she needed to depend on her mental strength to gain an advantage over her competitors.
Speaking on the 'Design Matters with Debbie Millman' podcast a couple of months ago, Evert stated that it was necessary for tennis players to detach from their emotions in order to think clearly on the court.
"I'm a firm believer and I tell all the kids that I mentor in tennis that when you get too emotional, the mind turns off," Chris Evert said. "You're feeling, feeling, feeling, but you're really not thinking, and you have to think when you're a tennis player. It came easy to me and I say that not in a boastful way but in a way that I wasn't a naturally strong, quick athlete like Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, or Serena Williams. So I had to compensate and find other ways, other edges."
Graf also added that she found other ways to win matches like being calm, mentally strong and trying to win every point, and that she succeeded. However, she remarked that in her personal life, she wasn't as disciplined as she was in her career.
"And I realized at a young age that my temperament, by being calm and cool on the court and by being present in every single point and trying to win every single point and being strong mentally, I felt that was the strength of my game. But trust me, in my personal life, I'm a wreck," she added.
"I said he's a painter, I was embarrassed" - Chris Evert on lying about her father's profession as a child
Speaking on the same podcast, Chris Evert admitted to lying about her father's profession on the Skipper Chuck Show when she was five years old. As part of the live audience of the popular children's TV show, an embarrassed Evert said that her father Jimmy Evert was a painter.
Jimmy was, in fact, a professional tennis coach, teaching tennis in Florida. Chris felt weird listening to other children saying that their fathers were doctors and lawyers.
"I did lie. And at that time, my father was a teaching tennis pro and I was embarrassed because all these other kids were saying 'my dad's a doctor, my dad's a lawyer'. So I was embarrassed," Chris Evert said.
"I said he's a painter. I don't even know what I meant. Did he paint houses, or was he an artist or what? I was thrown off. I didn't want to say he was a tennis pro or instructor because there were very few of them in those days and I wanted to be more mainstream. So I said he was a painter," she added.