Chris Evert d. Evonne Goolagong - 1975 US Open final: 1st of a record 6 US Open Crowns!

[@vanessacampbell5870]

My sister and I were at this match, cheering Evonne on!

[@showmebear]

What thoroughly entertaining piece of women's tennis history. Two of my favorite players of all time....so graceful and artistic, both of them.

[@Alfredul03]

I love the style of play that Evonne Goolagong had.

[@dudefromtx1404]

Both players are so skilled at moving the ball around the court and playing strategy tennis. Thanks for posting the match.

[@Pdjohnners]

Beautiful tennis by two great champions. Perfect.

[@MrJeepsters]

Pdjohnners Evonne Goolagong était une super joueuse aussi. Je me souviens qu'en 1980 à wimbledon, elle avait battue les meilleures, à la surprise générale

[@Pdjohnners]

MrJeepsters :)

[@yescanto]

I love the way that these two are moving the ball around and the sound of the wood raquet and the ball. What great strikers they are !

[@karrtt1234]

Great clip.. thanks for posting !

[@tenniscollector]

Wonderful era. Thanks for editing highlights of classic match like this in a reasonable length and posting it. Can you prepare and upload another one of their 1976 rematch ? Love Chris Evert....

[@Ineddiblehulk]

Evonne was such a great mover and all court player. Looked as comfortable at the ba club of the court as she did at the net...

[@Dbdbe1]

Two of my favourite players ever. Thanks a lot for the upload

[@showmebear]

Two of my favorite women players of all time. I remember rooting for Chris in the '80 W Final vs Yvonne. Yvonne was too tough on that day, taking the match in straight sets. Goolagong was such a unique player, easily the most graceful, fluid I've seen.

[@arthurgearheard4701]

Evert probably had a letdown as a result of beating Navratilova in the Semis!

[@jonathankieranwriter]

It's interesting to notice that, at this stage in her career, Evert was still often taking the second hand off her two-handed backhand at the last minute, completing the stroke as a one-hander, very much like Borg used to do. By the late 1970s she kept both hands firmly on her backhand shots. They are both tremendous ball-strikers; Evert with steely precision and power, while Evonne had such a fluid, almost musical technique.

[@zeddeka]

Do you think Chris also altered her forehand grip? It looks like she's playing with a continental grip here, and it looked like she moved move to an eastern grip in later years.

[@thebigmonstaandy6644]

she developed her game ,thats why she played so long.unlike Borg

[@Sonsbitchesall]

Before then, having two hands on the racquet wasn’t seen often.

[@Folkstone57]

@@zeddeka I don’t think I ever saw Chris using a Continental grip on her forehand.

[@smftrsddvjiou6443]

@@zeddekayes, with the graphite she changed her grip.

[@kljMN2]

I always enjoy watching clips of Evonne Gooiagong... especially against Chrissie,.

[@richard1836]

I was at this match and although I remember very little about it, other than Mrs Goolagoog won the first set playing so well, Miss Evert just kept getting the ball back and wore her down in the end, experience, great memories.

[@EJP286CRSKW]

richard1836 Mrs Cawley, _née_ Goolagong, later Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

[@vanessacampbell5870]

I was there too! Great match. My sister and I, both Aussies, were very loudly cheering for Goolagong!

[@markurbancowboy]

Both of them had such a beautiful Strokes.

[@chriswylie253]

Beautiful tennis..when I hit this clip I was expecting endless slow, moonball rallies as this was a little before my time and that was my impression of 70's womens tennis...but this is EVERY aspect of the game..topspin..slice..lobs..movement..footwork...from both players....and female NET GAME!!! Just well rounded players...the modern power game allows more technical and consistency flaws...this is priceless...

[@bsnguy12k]

70/s women's tennis had such variety.....

[@andrewdelacruz2064]

During her career, Evert entered 34 Grand Slam Finals, which included 10 Wimbledons, 9 French Opens, 9 US Open and 6 Australian Opens. She won 18 and lost the other 16 finals. Had she won half of those finals that she lost, she would have been the greatest player that ever lived, man or women. Not that Chris isn't already one of the greatest, that is. She only played in 6 Australian Opens and made the final in all of them. One could have imagined how many more Aussie Open titles she would have grabbed had she not skipped the other 10 during her career. I didn't have the opportunity of watching this great champion live on TV as I wasn't even born when she played her last Grand Slam final at the 1988 Australian Open. But it has been a joy watching this legend in all her poise, grace and charm on her youtube channels destroying most of her opponents on the tennis court. She only ever loses occasionally to only the top 3 players in the world and hardly ever to anyone ranked outside the top 5, which explains why she has almost always made it to the semi finals of all the Grand Slams that she competed in.

[@keithsmith4780]

andrew delacruz Well said. Evert made 40-some straight Grand Slam semi-finals, which must be the greatest record of consistency in tennis. Serena Williams is a better player than Evert was, maybe the best ever, but I don't think even she has gone 40 straight Grand Slams without getting upset in an early round.

[@vivahernando1]

andrew delacruz correction she would have been the most accomplished not the greatest. Court has 24 and no one considers her the best. Oh and how cool is it seeing Chris's mom smoking in the stands lol. Those were different times.

[@galenstone9097]

She still has the highest career winning percentage in tennis for men or women. Evert's career winning percentage in singles matches of 89.96% (1309-146) is the highest in the history of Open Era tennis, for men or women. (per Wikipedia) She also holds the WTA record for win percentage on clay, her career winning percentage in singles matches of 94.55% (382-22) remains a WTA record. (Per Wikipedia). So had she played more in the years when she could have who knows what she might have done. Her Career records will probably stand for years to come as the field is so saturated now.

[@senorgato70]

vivahernando1 Court is not considered "the best" because 13 of her 24 singles Grand Slam wins occurred prior to the Open Era. When the Open Era began in 1968, the level of competitiveness increased tremendously. All of Chris' wins would have occurred during the Open Era and she likely would be considered the Greatest.

[@senorgato70]

andrew delacruz More importantly, when Chris began winning Grand Slam tournaments in 1974, in subsequent years, from 1975 to 1980, she skipped 9 Grand Slam tournaments. In those 9, of which 3 were the French Open, one could surmise that she probably would have been victorious in possibly 5-7 of those tournaments. That was during her clay streak of 125 matches and she was essentially at the peak of her winning ways.

[@IAMMOVIN4WARD]

Great match! This match began the year I was born. How wild to be watchin' this!*

[@marcusreed3841]

Great video, Evert is such a great looking and classy lady. Both ladies are great champions.

[@drewdeflon4497]

If Chris hadn't skipped the French Open from 76-78 to play WTT shed have 10 French Open titles on her record. She was unstoppable on clay. Not to mention if she had played the Australian Open in those years.

[@joeyconvery2055]

Yes, Chris would have won about 25 Grand Slams.

[@sheezamann2724]

i think she would have had more titles also.....i think those breaks helped her longevity on the tour....kept her fresh.....and....just a bit of..who cares info here.....but she does have 10 clay court gs titles..if i have my info right

[@arthurgearheard4701]

Well, the Australian Open was played on Grass at the Time!

[@cullerjones]

@@joeyconvery2055 Wimbledon was played on grass every year from 75-80 and she won only 1 of those. I dont think she wins another 4 Australians between 75-80 if everyone played it.

[@JD-jc8gp]

@@cullerjones Australian played very differently. Higher bounce. I say Chris wins at least two more of those and three more Frenches.

[@kofiofosu9051]

Everything was more special then. How wonderful this was.

[@danielsmith8437]

Evert said she played better at the end of her career than when she was number one. I have my favorites, but she will always be my number one.

[@viralbuthow000]

Dont think any woman in sports history combined athleticism with sheer cuteness better than Chris Evert. Look at that smile at the end.

[@arthurgearheard4701]

I think that Steffi Graf holds that title!

[@lenwelch2195]

@@arthurgearheard4701you can say many great things about graf, cute is not one of them. Graf was a hard woman who played like a surgeon removing emotion even when she won acted relieved that the pressure was off rather than displaying any sense of joy.

[@preciousjey]

notice how evonne hits that extra ball. she never gets mad. or took a loss so seriously

[@yescanto]

Just love these posting, what great ball control; these 2 had, love wood raquet tennis.

[@johniii8147]

Amusing watching mom smoke during the match.. my how things have changed.

[@chrisevertdotnet]

10 years ago, Guillermo Coria's parents chain-smoked through his French final. :)

[@johng669]

John Iii Thanks for pointing that out. I must have missed that. I am always amused when I see the Mayor in the movie, Jaws light up inside the hospital. Smoking inside a hospital near rooms. Hilarious.

[@oktxboy]

Heidi Graf used to light up occasionally as well.

[@davanmani556]

Still alive and well.

[@preciousjey]

the impossible shots of evonne goolagong. really great

[@harveywolfe8787]

It is one of the great tragedies in tennis Evonne never got a U.S Open title. Lost 3 nailbiting finals to court in 73, King in 74, Evert in 75, on 3 different surfaces to boot. The U.S Champions ceremony without Evonne or Bjorn was truly a sad occasion.

[@jondavwal13]

Just two surfaces. Grass in 73 and 74, clay in 75. They switched to hard courts in 1978.

[@BTURNER1961]

Only two surfaces but four finals. Goolagong also made the 1976 final but was killed by Evert 6-3,6-0. That was also played on the same clay that this was. Goolagong never made it to the final thereafter and never on Flushing meadows hard courts. It changed in 1978 and Evert played Shriver that year.

[@lenwelch2195]

Brian Turner just to be fair to Evonne , although Evert was peaking in 76 and would’ve beaten Evonne in 76 open on clay no matter what , Evonne was pregnant during 76 final and had no touch that day as Evert down 3-2 won the next 10 games and the match easily , waiting for the ball to out any where she wanted . Evonne in 80 W played two best matches of her career beating Austin and Evert to win W. Evonne won when she wasn’t expected too and lost when she was considered 59-50 chance to win like here . Evert was nervous in first set but once her nerves calmed down she ran away with it - clay was Her surface . In Everts clay court streak if 125 the match she lost before the streak was to Evonne in Cincinnati in 73 ( I was there )then lost to Austin in 79 fir 125 straight wins in clay . She then won 64 more in a row till Hana beat her in 81 SF French which was a huge upset .

[@kylerobin372]

Evonne so rarely went over her backhand. Don't get me wrong, that slice was a thing of beauty and on grass it sliced through aggressively, but on clay employing the topspin backhand more often may have gained an edge in a rally. But that was the style of play then by players who were around in the early 70s. Both were amazing to watch and I remember watching this match on TV.

[@jokerwildest]

What a great posting this is. It is just wonderfull to see these two playing such a great match. I just love the shot making of the golden era players..... wood raquets and all, love their dresses... just a pure delight !

[@ianwilliamson2980]

Chrissie was class she wore down her opponents

[@DavidJohnson-yq4nz]

Epitomises great style and tennis the like we will never see again

[@ricardocoutinho-b4o]

Beautiful classic tennis with two beautiful tennis legends...❤️🙏🎾

[@Nikray]

@Vengeance509 I agree watching Chris here you are reminded how great she was during this time. But also how she could be a champion even now. Her ball placement is out of this world.

[@michaelbla]

Being an Aussie, I was always a huge Evonne fan. She always seemed to like the chase rather than setting the pace in a rally, but this always made for exciting tennis as she could chase anything down and then hit a winner from anywhere in the court

[@lenwelch2195]

Evonne is an artist, evert paints more pictures and is an artist in her own way .

[@lenwelch2195]

Evert not every

[@antonmarino6568]

Met evonne twice, a true pleasure

[@joeyconvery2055]

What a match!

[@netgodzilla1]

How they play is way different from today's game. Back then its all about finesse. Like watching 2 Radwanska playing against each other.

[@Summon256]

Mmm no...Radwanska wishes she was this good!

[@RadicalCaveman]

The thing is, we're mostly seeing the best rallies in these highlights. Points tended to be a lot shorter back then, due to the wonky wooden rackets.

[@cyriljacob4839]

If Radwanska was of this Era she would have had some GS on her name.

[@shihlin1]

Radwanska has a history of choking in big GS matches, which explains the lack of GS finals on her tennis resume.

[@matthewbuck5067]

Before Chris and Martina, there was Chris and Evonne. These two were easily the top 2 in the 70s in my mind. It was a different tennis back then: Goolagong was artful and graceful, Evert was superior at controlled aggression. When these two played, it was the best tennis of the 70s. Other players like Court, King and Wade were excellent of course, but these two are my 70s favs.

[@hamburg1306]

The Har Tru surface was tailor made for Chrissy. Love seeing this clip from forest hills.

[@mikhail606]

Check out Virginia Slim with the Rhoda headscarf at 1:49!! You can't get more 1975 than that.

[@michaelhegyan7464]

Chrissi..text book ground strokes..

[@ernc1941]

Evonne was made to move so much from side to side. Evert dominated the last 2 sets.

[@dtw1958]

@ants2876 Didn't Evonne lose in straight sets in 76 to Chris tho?

[@nico19611]

nice camera work

[@NOTHEOTHERGUY]

Evert's overhead was very under-rated. She rarely missed.

[@TheVerbalVolley]

I think that there is some technicality in which it is specifically written that the name of Louis Armstrong Stadium can not be changed for a certain number of years.

[@TheVerbalVolley]

Evonne seems to be vulnerable to a wide forehand in a long rally. I have seen this in many You Tube videos of her that I never saw when I watched her live decades ago. Interesting...

[@preciousjey]

was it a close match? i hate losing close ones

[@Morgana3781]

It's really amazing I feel. It does no good to compare one era of women's tennis to another. It's almost a leisurley walk to return serve. The placement of shots and setting up the next predominates. The "flow" of each point is so much different than it is today. The "power" women are compelled to display to penetrate and put away EACH ball is where so many unforced errors come from whereas previously it was getting your opponent out of position and gaining the upper hand with ability and mind.

[@MARKBPHARM]

Interesting comment by Julie Heldman when she says one should play to Evonne's backhand on grass and forehand on clay. I'd have thought one would play more to Evonne's forehand on any surface. Evonne's backhand was generally such a reliable shot and the one she seemed to prefer coming in behind. Does anyone have a view on that? I'd be interested.

[@grantgoffin4774]

In this match Evonne was making a lot of errors on the backhand, especialy in longer rallies, in the 2nd half of the match. And Evonne seemed to love coming to net off her forehand slice, so I am not sure if the backhand is the side she prefers to approach on.

[@smancez]

Is that a top spin backhand from Yvonne at 121?

[@McClernand4]

It didn't go very fast (in comparison to tennis of nowadays), but it was very accurate, regular, and enjoyable to see.

[@craigferris1]

Evonne and Chris, such great players. Evonne was such a beautiful player to watch but her lapes in concentration really cost her again Chris in their matches. Not to take anything away from Chris, was a superb player and a great sport she was. A little differernt to some of the petulant brats playing today.

[@KingCast65]

Hey that's Jimmy's brother isn't it at 8:18? I heard he was one tough player too, both schooled by Momma Gloria.

[@ryanje8147]

Chris' mother smoking cigarettes in the crowd....lol

[@aperera6500]

I know...Classic

[@thegorn]

These women exude grace and style, unlike the rude, brutish and obnoxious Serena Williams

[@kjs2077]

Is this a clay or grass service? I can't tell

[@martm216]

Was this at Flushing Meadows or Forest Hills?

[@gerrymarko5893]

Forrest Hills

[@gerrymarko5893]

*Forest Hills

[@drewdeflon4497]

I can see why so many people loved Chris. Most of the women were, even today, not feminine not pretty. Chrissie was gorgeous with that body, those sexy dresses & that devastating two handed backhand. And remember that was natural power played with a wooden racquet

[@kelwright8418]

At least we get to see the great shots produced by both players here,unlike most of the 'Edited For Evert Fans' where you could be forgiven for assuming that Evert's apponent never managed to return a ball. Pity tho that Heldman could not manage better control of her bias in the commentary.

[@chrisevertdotnet]

The early videos had a 5 minute limit on youtube- so that determined the way videos were structured.

[@vanessacampbell5870]

The whole crowd was biased that day - I was there and it felt like my sister and I (both Aussies) were the only ones cheering for Goolagong.

[@JordanjamesX]

@ants2876 your comment makes no sense Evonne is a seven time grand slam singles champion give her some respect! Evonne won the three other slams anyway the US OPEN is NOT everything!

[@Ariamaluum]

Chris is a legitimate coach's daughter. Her father played pro tennis. Lot of them don't make it but the ones who do have a distinct advantage over talents like Evonne or Martina even Steffi.

[@chrisevertdotnet]

Yes, Chrissie dated Jimmy on & off until 1976. They were even engaged to be married in 1974.

[@RachelDavisMatthews]

Collette's favorite saying, "Nice Going"..........she can be seen saying it many times over the years from the Player's Box, too cute, like at 5-2 in 3rd set here.

[@pablotjob]

sweetie chris!

[@KingCast65]

Exactly man exactly. And when Hana get into the mix you had Hana, Jana Novatna and Martina on the serve & volley game.... I just love the old days better, there was a human element to it. Now the level of play is allegedly higher but I'm somewhat non-plussed.

[@lambielkwanfan]

It is a shame she never won the U.S Open as she played many amazing matches there in 73, 74, and 75, especialy the finals in losing to Court, King, and Evert.

[@Ariamaluum]

@BeemerryNYC. Julie had a tennis playing father who won the juniors in 1936. Her mom was a great too though she played only after she married her father but appeared in Wimbledon and Forest Hills in 1954. They put pressure due to their accomplishment. But I got the sense from Julie was like this: "well you given me the brains and determination but couldn't at least given me the body too."

[@MARKBPHARM]

@kljMN2 It was Julie Heldman - a top ten player from the late 60s to mid 70s - sometimes called 'Junkball Julie' because of the heavy spin and lack of pace she put on some balls. Julie was a bit of an intellect on the tour having earned her BA before turning pro. After she finished tennis she earned her doctorate in Jurisprudence and practiced law. Her Mother Gladys was a top level business-woman who was heavily involved in the creation of the virginia slims tour.

[@KingCast65]

I did not realize she had 3 of 4. So too did Arthur. There are a couple of others like that too.

[@Paglia444]

Who's the blonde sitting with Connors at 6:00?

[@lenwelch2195]

Kristin she- Evers friend from world team tennis

[@zedlacredit]

Steve Flink is trying to get the USTA to re-name Louis Armstrong Stadium, "Chris Evert Stadium".... sounds great to me !

[@shihlin1]

Probably Evonne's last chance to ever win the U.S. Open. After very close 3-set losses to Margaret Court and Billie Jean in '73 and '74 in the Open finals, many had picked Evonne to finally win it over the 20-year old Evert in her first Open final. They both got to 4-4 all in the 2nd set (Goolagong won the 1st set), but Evonne's nerves got the best of her (again) and Evert -- ever so cool and calm whenever the big points are played -- beats Goolagong in another 3-set heartbreak for the Aussie.

[@grantgoffin4774]

It is so sad she never won the U.S Open. I wonder if she had been able to play 1980 on hard courts after winning Wimbledon.

[@johnblacklovesmar]

who is that with Jimmy Connors? Were connors and Evert dating at the time?

[@911801111801]

Goolagong vs Evert is the 2nd greatest rivalry of all-time in women's tennis; after Navratilova vs Evert.

[@michaelbla]

great match

[@ziggy2shus624]

Chris Evert's mother, shown at 1:49 died at 92 years old on Nov 11 2020.

[@drewdeflon4497]

Everts groundstokes were punishing in her prime. She hit that ball so hard with that wooden racket. But she was a taction who could be agressive & take the net when needed

[@shihlin1]

Connors is seen briefly in the spectators stands watching Chris play. This was already after they'd broken up the previous year in Nov 1974. Connors alleges in his bio Evert became pregnant while they were still dating, but Chris decided to get an abortion bc she didn't want the baby to interfere with her career. Most did not know this juicy tidbit until Connors spilled it which totally pissed off Evert.

[@mjjoseph5027]

chris had a great volley...she was great at net

[@cpthurme]

That first rally was like I play..just get the ball back haha

[@TheVerbalVolley]

Bring back the wood racquets.

[@kljMN2]

@grafgirl27: I'd hardly call Goolagong's failure to win a US Open title a 'tragedy'. The real tragedy in tennis was what took place in Hamburg, Germany, in 1993.

[@senorgato70]

Chrissie’s anticipation of the drop shot at :17 is uncanny.

[@shihlin1]

Colette Evert looks like a good spokesperson for Virginia Slims, puffing away during Chris's matches during this time. She was quite the "puffer", usually lighting up during every game while watching Chris swing away on the court. It's good to see Colette giving up smoking later on, but during this time she really looked "glamorous" lighting up in the stands.

[@arthurgearheard4701]

Cigarette Smoking was still fashionable at the time to a certain extent!

[@kljMN2]

@grafgirl27 : I like Goolagong too, but I'd hardly call that a 'tragedy'. The real tragedy of tennis was what took place in Hamburg, Germany in 1993. That's the true tragedy.

[@craigferris1]

@kljMN2 I think it is Billie Jean-King.

[@sheezamann2724]

was this clay or hard court....grass???

[@ernc1941]

Clay

[@krosero]

Very tough to watch this, when you want to see balanced highlights of the match.

[@MMM18092]

Chris Evert looks like a modern player in this clip, Goolagong like she came in a time machine from the 1950s.

[@sugiharto7094]

Permainan chris evert indah enak dilihat

[@jac7124]

awesome point at 4:53!

[@dtw1958]

Reminds me of the matches Rick Parks and Doug Wright had in the 80s!

[@kljMN2]

Who is that female announcer who said in a weird accent 'Incredible tennis!'?

[@lenwelch2195]

kljMN2 Julie heldman is the announcer, daughter of Gladys Heldman who was instrumental in forming women’s tennis and editor of tennis USA

[@maxipazz8214]

To be honest when they changed the surface from grass to clay it suited Miss Evert

[@tomloft2000]

not surprising that Evert won all the Opens that were played on clay(if you want to call it that).

[@ernestocun7212]

That's tennis!

[@turquoise770]

Strange seeing her throw up her racket at 9:30 for someone who never showed any emotion on court.