Chris evert - wikipedia

Christine Marie Evert was known as America’s tennis sweetheart. But to those who had to face her, “human backboard” might have been a more apt description. Evert’s muscle-memory was engrained in her at age 5, when she began hitting tennis balls under the watchful eye of her coach and father Jimmy Evert. The sound of balls coming off her racquet in rhythmic measure could be substituted for a metronome that musicians use to keep tempo. Her two-handed backhand was flawless and emulated by players around the world — young and old — who wanted to hit the ball as cleanly, smoothly and as precisely as Evert.

Evert had grace and beauty. and she was cool, calm, and collected with the steely focus of a heart surgeon. Evert’s concentration on court was intense, “She concentrates to the last point,” remarked Margaret Court. “It makes her a champion. Even when she is losing she concentrates and never gives up.”

Evert was stoic and commonly referred to as “The Ice Maiden”: between the lines, a quiet, deadpan champion; the only noise coming from her side of the court was the constant ping of b

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