Chris Evert

Chris Evert was born December 21, 1954, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her father, a professional tennis coach, taught his five children tennis using hand-me-down racquets. Her dad taught her a two-handed backhand swing because, at the age of five, she was too tiny to swing backhand with one. It was something her father hoped she would out-grow. She became noted for this style and took it to great heights, as today it is the norm for the backhand. Because of her father’s excellent coaching, Chris and her four siblings all went on to win National Junior Championships.

At the age of 14, Chris would become the number one ranked player in the girl’s 14 and under Division. In 1969, she also played in her first senior’s tournament, making it to the semifinals. It would be the following year in North Carolina that the 15-year-old Chris would defeat the number one woman’s professional tennis player, Margaret Court.

Chris Evert turned pro following her eighteenth birthday. She signed a contract with Wilson tennis racquets, which she continued to play with until she retired in 1989.

She was unanimously elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995, and was only the fourth player ever to be elected that way.

She was married three times. In 1979, she became Chris Evert Lloyd and John Lloyd took over coaching her until 1982, when Dennis Ralston was hired. In 1986, she divorced, and in 1988 she married downhill Olympic skier, Andy Mill. Choosing the man over tennis, she had three boys, 1991, 1994 and 1996. In 2006, she divorced Andy and married Greg Norman, Australian golf pro, in 2008.

She has a tennis academy in Boca Raton, Florida and helps coach the Saint Andrews High School tennis team.