"Yikes, that’s brutal" - Chris Evert reacts to being reminded of her famous quote highlighting her competitive spirit on court

Chris Evert had a cheeky response after she was reminded of her competitiveness and fighting spirit that brought her great success during her playing days.

Evert is renowned for having had a strong mindset on court, which helped her overcome tough situations in matches and make strong comebacks. In that context, author Mike Lupica recently reminisced once asking Evert about her thought process when trailing in a match.

Back then, Evert answered that she would often picture her opponent's reaction if she went on to lose to them, and that helped her turn things around.

"I once asked my friend, the great Ms. Evert, what she thought about when she was behind in a match. She said, 'What my opponent's face would look like at the net if I lost'," Lupica wrote on Twitter.

On Friday, Evert reacted to the tweet, suggesting that her comment from the past was "brutal."

"Yikes…that’s brutal," Evert wrote.

Yikes…that’s brutal….😳🤔🫣🤦‍♀️ twitter.com/mikelupica/sta…

Evert had also recently reflected on the earliest phase of her life as a tennis player, highlighting why her success on the junior circuit was so important for her confidence going forward.

The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion believes that consistently winning matches and tournaments at the early stage of your tennis career helps build self-esteem.

"You know you have talent when you play tournaments and you measure yourself against other girls, you see the results, and winning matches," Chris Evert said in an interview on the Design Matters with Debbie Millman podcast.

"You get to the semifinals and the finals. Even in the 10 and under, I was no. 1 and 2 in the country, 12 and under I was no. 1, even 14 and under I was no. 1. I was a very successful junior player. It was really good for my self-esteem. At that young age, kids need to feel good about themselves," she added.

Chris Evert remembers Jeanne Evert, her younger sister and a former pro tennis player

Chris Evert recently reacted to an old picture on social media of herself and her younger sister, the late Jeanne Evert, who was also a professional tennis player back in the day. The photo was taken in 1972, when Chris, then 16 years old, posed with her sister, Jeanne, 14, after the former won the inaugural year-end championships on the women's circuit.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion looked back on the memory with fondness, expressing that she misses her younger sister every day.

"RIP my sweet sister.. I think about you every day," Evert wrote on Twitter.

RIP my sweet sister.. I think about you every day…❤️❤️❤️ twitter.com/christophclare…

Evert most recently made her presence felt on tour during the WTA Finals, where she was one of the Legend Ambassadors alongside her great former rival Martina Navratilova.