"I should never have won Wimbledon" - Chris Evert fondly revisits maiden title at SW19 aided by early exits of Billie Jean King & Evonne Goolagong
Chris Evert won the first of her three Wimbledon titles in 1974. She was the second seed in the tournament and defending champion Billie Jean King was the top seed. 50 years later, Evert still believes she had 'no right winning' the Grasscourt Slam that year.
In 1973, Evert reached the Wimbledon final for the first time but faced defeat against King. The 69-year-old recalled the 1974 triumph in her recent interview with the WTA and stated that she was yet to defeat King on grass and Evonne Goolagong also had her number on the surface so she shouldn't have reigned supreme.
“I remember that that year I should never have won Wimbledon because I was in the same tournament as Billie Jean King, who I hadn’t beaten on grass yet, and Evonne Goolagong, who had my number on grass,” Evert said.
“Lucky for me Olga Morozova beat Billie Jean King and Kerry Reid beat Evonne Goolagong.”
In 1974, Evert reached the Australian Open final and won the French Open before making her way into the Major at the All England Club. Moreover, she was on a 27-match winning streak before playing her first-round match against Lesley Hunt of Australia. With great difficulty, Evert won that match 8-6, 5-7, 11-9.
In the quarterfinals, King was defeated by eighth seed Olga Morozova and Goolagong was beaten by sixth seed Kerry Melville. Evert defeated Melville in the semifinal 6-2, 6-3 and got the better of Morozova in the final 6-0, 6-4 to win her first Wimbledon title.
“Martina [Navratilova] and I often talk about were there Wimbledons you should have won that you didn’t win, vice versa... That was one that I had no right winning,” Evert added.
Chris Evert received instrumental advice from then-fiance Jimmy Connors to help win Wimbledon 1974
In the first round at the 1974 Wimbledon Championships, Chris Evert faced Lesley Hunt. Their match was suspended when the score was 8-6, 5-7, 9-9.
At the time, the American was engaged to Jimmy Connors and he helped her with some instrumental advice.
"What should I do?" she asked Connors.
"Go to the net on her backhand," he replied.
Connors told Evert to exploit Hunt's weakness at the net and move towards the net even though the latter never utilized that part of the game.
"But I don’t go to the net," Chris Evert said.
"Go to the net on her backhand. Every time she comes into the net, she wins the point. She has a slice backhand, she’s not going to pass you," Connors responded.
However, that advice went a long way as Evert did not drop another game and won the set 11-9. She eventually went on to win her first Wimbledon title.