Chris Evert's debut at the US Open! | US Open 1971

Chris Evert set a record for the best women's singles US Open debut by reaching the semifinals of US Open 1971. Evert would go on to win 101 matches at the US Open and was the only female player to have won 100 singles matches, until Serena Williams reached the same milestone at US Open 2019. Come with us as we revisit Evert's first ever US Open!
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[@MargauxKim_13]

This is incredible. Evert was amazingly talented.

[@maudeboggins9834]

Chris Evert was very much the baseline player, when Martina Navratilova came along they all had to shake up their games to keep up her MN.

[@DomenicoG1953]

Simply the GOAT. And a classy, wonderful lady since then.

[@DomenicoG1953]

@Cjjjj902 you should learn to think before talking nonsense. There were wooden rackets and very different courts. It's impossible to compare different times. The 2 screaming players you say would be beaten by Evert, as by Navratilova and Graf. Then and now..

[@Mr10usdad]

You cannot compare. The equipment you grow up with shapes how you play as an adult. At least she did not threaten a lines person. @Cjjjj902

[@KellyShay-gy5ex]

A mess? She was the best of her generation and that's all you can ask of anyone. You are a disrespectful person but I'm betting you think that's cool.​@Cjjjj902

[@frankzito8653]

Incredible composure at just 16 years of age.

[@user-jv9qz2bu1r]

yes - the poise my God ,,, I love this upload and going for lines ,,,, wow

[@martm216]

Yes, I guess Martina Hingis many years later was the next one to show such maturity and court awareness at 16?

[@philfreeman2450]

J to

[@stevena.2306]

stellar

[@ChicanoPhD]

@@martm216 Uh a 15 yo Monica Seles beat Evert and 16 yo M.S. beat graf...

[@englandcalling9721]

Even at the tender age of 16 you could sense Chris knew she deserved to be on that court.

[@henrilaporte7599]

Three courts in the main stadium!! Chris Evert was gorgeous and so talented. Actually she was a game changer, ahead of her time.

[@Ineddiblehulk]

Yeah, all these goat level talents evolved the game and were ahead of their time. Feels harder to do that now tho…

[@luvdasitar]

She has incredibly timing.

[@MachoDefeaters]

The original blonde babe of tennis before Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova era. A girl got a look and can play too! She paved them way to make tennis marketable female sports in the world!

[@nimueh4298]

In case you didn’t notice Anna Kournikova never won anything, too lazy to put in the effort.

[@darrellkramer8097]

@@nimueh4298Anna was a bit of a flop. If she she actually won anything significant as a singles player, she’d be worth adding to the conversation.

[@timmcmahon6527]

The excitement she generated during that US Open led to many Americans taking up the sport of tennis. I was one of them along with many of my friends. I was a fan of Everts and still am to this day.

[@shihlin1]

In 1971, Evert was unlike any player the sport had ever seen, the steely concentration and determination, all at the tender age of 16. I can see why some of the players took a while to warm up to her. Virginia Wade later said Chris first gave the impression of being "Uppity" in the locker room. Within time Chris grew to be a popular figure who self admittedly can tell dirty jokes with the best of them. Mary Carillo said: "If you're sitting next to Chris in the locker room, then you've got the best seat in the house."

[@gerardmackay8909]

Top quality finesse tennis and the 50 year old film is unbelievably crisp. What amazes me is the deplorable state of the court (especially by the semis in the second clip). Every second bounce must have been dodgy. Fascinating how silent they are and let the tennis do the talking. I think nowadays players actually feel obliged to gurn, scream, grimace and fist pump or they are accused of being ‘boring’

[@zeddeka]

The courts at Forest Hills were notoriously bad. One year after there had been heavy rain, they had to get a helicopter in to try and dry out the court. It's one of the main reasons why the US Open switched to green clay in 1975 and then moved stadiums to Flushing Meadows and hard courts in 1978.

[@ChaunceyDos]

4:14 Chris just casually throwing the second ball onto the court after her first serve goes in was interesting... She's become a great commentator, too. None of the sour grapes and "I would have made that shot" attitude of Martina. She seems to really love and respect the modern game.

[@willkittwk]

Sour grapes make your face ugly. When getting older even worse.

[@vinceb755]

I loved the casually throwing of the second ball onto the court during the point. I saw a recording of Goolagong from Wimbledon and she would just hold the second ball in her hand while playing. Also, none of the checking out every ball every point necessitating the back/forth with the ball person.

[@NikoaidanielovichNazarenko]

How cute! what nerve she has at that very young age. Big up for Evert. Just love the ingenious behind her evolutionary shots.

[@ErikShen2907]

Maryann "CHOKEJOB" Eisel!!! Chrissie schooled her like A BOSS

[@cresanneclyderamos2223]

You can see the difference from power play these days and from before. Back then they only have a small team traveling with them. Today, they have different sorts of people who helps them with their conditioning, diet and etc.

[@tigerbalm666]

Those woodies weight a lot more than today's sticks!

[@user-jv9qz2bu1r]

Simply a pleasure to watch C. E.

[@raynerstuelgalid]

I wish I had kept my 1978 Dunlop racket. Then one day these days I am going down to the courts and surprise the youngsters :-)

[@ns2110theonly]

I still have both my dad’s and the one he bought me for my 10th birthday in 1977! We don’t touch them of course; pride of place on display in the rec room.

[@uncletony6210]

I remember watching this on edge of my seat, like it was yesterday! I had just turned two but what a memory!

[@sammcbride2149]

Love it when Chrissie is chomping on gum in the final of the US Open! 7:15

[@rjddurhamnc]

The Era of Evert begins.........

[@95KIPPIE]

Mary Anne didn't know what hit her, after Chrissie took it, and Chris went on to be one of the greatest to ever play the game. Some of her records may never be broken. America fell in love with her that day in 1971, including me, but not until later in the 70s

[@tomloft2000]

Evert won the last set 6-1.that's pretty impressive because Eisel was a pretty fair player herself,having reached the QF at Wimbledon.

[@ernc1941]

I think Eisel was completely deflated by then. Evert broke her.

[@romanwojciechowski3840]

Chrissie Evert and that cute little behind was the beginning of the tennis craze of the 1970s 😘😘😍😍

[@hectorsamko9339]

Chris Evert ídola en mi juventud , el tenis se hizo popular con ella , todos la amabamos , las confrontaciones clásicas con Martina , larga vida Reina ❤❤❤❤

[@1611-h8x]

7:32 half volley forehand flick lob off a deep slice... nice

[@1bcordell]

Chrissie's game face at this age is pretty, pretty, pretty good.

[@drsergekuznetsov]

That time she inspired me greatly

[@ianwilliamson2980]

Great stuff

[@filosoforvgsapereaude5020]

Que bien por la bella Chris

[@ABlueDahlia]

Again, the quality from 1971 is great. (2nd round match, no less!!) However, Wimbledon couldn't get the quality from 2005 final to be just as good, if not better? WTF.

[@pharmaas]

If you take a look at this 1977 Wimbledon match the quality from the BBC production is pretty good. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWXMipegZd6qodU

[@ns2110theonly]

I agree Wimbledon in general has really dropped the ball with their archived matches. And not for nothing, but they seem to be only posting men’s or Williams sisters but practically no other women’s matches. Yet Roland Garros & USTA on the money.

[@preciousjey]

The Professor and Mary Ann.

[@vigulfmusicproduct]

These clips don`t looks so old.

[@eugenedowns2563]

Incredible to see this footage, in color and with such high quality. Thank you, WTA! Was Evert the third or fourth greatest of all time? Navratilova is my #1, followed by S. Williams. So, who is #3: King (who essentially created the women's tour) or Evert (who has the highest winning percentage of any player, male or female, of the open era)? Tough call!

[@stevefowler2112]

I can see where she got the Ice Queen moniker...even at 16 she was unflappable.

[@steppinout67]

Can you imagine how annoying it would be for the umpire to say "double fault" whenever you doubled. There's a lot of stupid things they used to do that I'm glad they don't do anymore.

[@englandcalling9721]

steppinout67 - When the umpire shouted double fault I was half expecting her to then say "Try again and be more careful this time"

[@zeddeka]

"The past is another country. They do things differently there."

[@ericfreeman5795]

In an era of "grunt like an ape", "pump you fist", "towel yourself off", it must seems strange to watch Chissie's classic "walk away" after hitting a winner. It's like "turn away and don't look back", no use rubbing your opponents nose in it. I remember having a school boy crush on Chrissie in the 70s.

[@SK-qu4wo]

Nadal would stick out like a sore thumb in this era for sure 😂

[@zeddeka]

Virginia Wade commented years later on how Chris's demeanour on court actually intimidated a lot of the other players. They felt she was haughty and aloof and a real "killer" on court. Chris was a real oddity in this era - a baseliner in a world of serve volleyers. Very mentally controlled and silent on court in a world of the outbursts of BJK and the pleasant sunny personality of Evonne Goolagong. Virginia Wade said "Chris did seem to look down her nose at people in those days and it added to her power". Chris herself put this down to her very intense shyness. Whatever it was, Chris was apparently very unpopular in the locker room in her first couple of years.

[@KellyShay-gy5ex]

I get you, but I think just walking away WAS Chris's way of rubbing their nose in it. Chris was viewed as an assassin. She famously felt no mercy at all. And I say that with respect. She wanted every point and won in the neighborhood of 50+ double bagel matches in her career. No other player has come close.

[@babaji1947]

The game should revert to wooden rackets.

[@henrym6758]

no they should do a wooden racket tour, the modern rackets are still fun

[@tonyhayes4980]

Lino Ventura it would be nice

[@Nocturnbandofficial]

.... it seems to me that Evert's service motion was a bit different back then?

[@whitekeyboard14]

King 27 years old? Whaaaaat, I was thinking 40.

[@johniii8147]

It was 1071.

[@whitekeyboard14]

I know that, says it in the title lol

[@pavementpounder7502]

Hairstyles and fashion back then

[@markwhitman9029]

Billie Jean King and the other players contributed immensely to establish the women's circuit and attempt to get equal prize money and kudos to them. BUT this prodigy from Ft. Lauderdale had the average American sports fan take more notice of tennis and was actually responsible for tens of thousands of people to begin playing the game. I vividly remember Chrissie's debut on Wide World of Sports I believe in early September 1971. Never forget I was prepared to return to fall classes at Kent State and was glued to tv set watching young Chrissie mowing down her opposition. Disappointed she lost to the great Billie Jean King but to everyone that late summer A STAR WAS BORN!!

[@kaialoha]

No screeching, fist pumping, bad handshakes...in your face brutality....Chrissy brought a calm feminine grace to the game which mostly featured..ahem..cough cough tomboys. Her elegance in carriage, her classy dress style, her beautiful make up and quiet jewelry and hair style and she was a steely eyed killer...what a combo - took the world of women´s tennis by storm. Still my fav of the classic era. Martina was plenty classy too.

[@joshualeach2706]

Could Bud Collins be any more biased for “Chrissy”?

[@joeenglert]

When women played with a refined grace and class...no squealing and grunting like pigs and no overweight cows plodding along the court powering each ball like so much today

[@BTURNER1961]

two points here. Poor Mary Anne. There wasn't much of a playbook on young Chrissie in 1971. It would have seem the smart thing to do to hit to serve and approach to that twohander, less reach, harder to scrape up off the grass... coaches were not teaching the two hander back then. Players were learning Evert's game the hard way in 1971. What was astonishing is how little experience Evert had on grass coming up to this semifinal. She has almost no experience on grass. She played 3 professional tournaments on grass before this. She lost in the first rd of the first two in 1970, but she actually won Eastern Grass Court Championships held exactly one week earlier than this tournament. So her total match record on grass at the pro level was 4 wins/ two losses before she entered this Slam.

[@kylestewart1439]

I like how girls chatted at crossovers and drank Pepsi

[@yuttasakarakkitsakul4288]

Wow so beautiful she is!

[@isobeferrero9778]

まだ芝の頃の全米オープンの画像は珍しい。

[@willkittwk]

Conners transformed tennis to a first line sport. These courts right next to each other during premier matches make the matches look uneventful.

[@bobdobalina838]

The beginning of the end for Women's Tennis. now, all we have are two handed backhand clones playing exactly the same.

[@gerardlacey5428]

I have to agree with you. Women's tennis has become characterless and boring. Just stopped watching Wimbledon.

[@imronaja1599]

7.36 ...funny from BJK :D

[@fedecasares]

What I could never understand is how there are players who risk going to the net with a weak second serve knowing that the return of the rival will leave them standing as a post on the road. Of course there are players who base their game on serve and net, but you can't lose so many points so foolishly.

[@davidc9256]

Some just can't help themselves. Fine with me though if I am on the other side.

[@zeddeka]

We have to remember that Chris was a real oddity in the women's game back then. Baseliners with good returns were few and far between. Because so much tennis was played on grass, virtually everybody was a serve and volleyer. So they just wouldn't have been used to the good returns Chris could make - in most cases they would get a chipped backhand which they could try and volley away. Also, because there was so much of a focus on net play, very few players had really solid groundstrokes, so staying back wasn't really an option. Chris herself commented on this many years later - she said that the main reason why she'd had such a long, record breaking streak on clay courts in the 70s was because so few players had solid groundstrokes. They were all serve and volley grasscourters. It was only when Tracy Austin came along, someone who could hold her own with Chris from the baseline, that Chris started to lose on clay again.

[@gamingtonight1526]

Don't even jump to serve - a different time!

[@hankmcaff9350]

First, is this Forest Hills? And second, who's the women commentator?

[@rivaridge7211]

Yes, Forest Hills, and the lady commentator is Ann Jones, a top-ranked British player back in the day (winner of Wimbledon in 1969, against Billie Jean).

[@hankmcaff9350]

@@rivaridge7211 Thanks so much for that info!

[@cristianmicu]

commentator Chrissie evert? is her first year at wimbledon, you supposed to not know her by her face and you call her chrissie? something is off

[@zeddeka]

??

[@artistseye1]

US Open was played on grass? I didn't realize that.

[@TheDiana1]

In this age of POWER and TECHNOLOGY, Chris and Martina Navratilova with their amazing rivalry took women's tennis to a worldwide audience and kept us on the edge of seats EVERY SINGLE time they played each other and these two legends brought the best out of each other!!!. Can you imagine a Steffi Graf or a Serena Williams still winning Grand Slam Singles Titles playing with WOODEN RACQUETS and cat gut...........I DON'T THINK SO LOL!!!. With Chris being the greatest baseline player against Martina being the greatest serve-volleyer, we had a match made in Heaven!!!. It was an honour and privilege to watch these Icons play some unbelievable, mesmerising tennis and the whole world sat up and take notice of women's tennis!!!. The fact that they have been lifelong friends made their rivalry even more special. For me, looking back over the years, Martina was the greatest female tennis player of all time and her rivalry with Chris was a major part of that and it upsets me that people judge the GOAT by how many Grand Slam Singles Titles a player wins when it's much more than that and taking EVERYTHING into consideration is why i feel that Martina is the GOAT!!!.

[@pgarciaAP]

Modern players have a lot more competition. To say Chris and Martina were special is true but they were killing people 6-0, 6-0 all the way to the finals. Just a handful of countries producing top notch players. Let’s be honest.

[@TheDiana1]

@@pgarciaAP Sorry but you're wrong!!!. Chris and Martina weren't "killing people 6-0, 6-0" all of the time!!!. Serena Williams because of her POWER and TECHNOLOGY has "BATTERED" opponents relentlessly for years!!!. Back in the day, Chris and Martina had loads of competition like, Mandlikova, Novotna, Sabatini, Sanchez-Vicario, Graf, etc., so it's very harsh for you to say that today's players have a lot more competition!!!. Women's tennis today is BORING and is all about the POWER !!!. The only player to CONSISTENTLY beat Williams is Williams herself!!!. Williams will be remembered for her "antics" on and off the court, BUT Chris and Martina will be remembered for their amazing rivalry and bringing women's tennis to a new world wide audience!!!.

[@pgarciaAP]

James Waugh ok only 99% of the time did they kill their competition. To single out Serena for only a power game is pretty telling to what your real issue is with the modern game. I never mentioned her. I state as I have seen with my own eyes in grand slam tournaments the slew of great athletes from every corner of the world competing hard on the courts and it’s not boring. Just look at the stats concerning Chris and Martina’s inevitable finals, it is clear the level of talent was not there no mater how much nostalgia fogs the view. The competition you mention like Novotna, Sabatini, etc...came around the tail end of both their careers when they were already in their 30’s and the tennis world had caught up. It was no longer a country club sport.

[@TheDiana1]

@@pgarciaAP Be VERY CAREFUL at what your inferring as i mentioned Serena Williams!!!!!. Iv'e already said "MY REAL ISSUE" is with POWER AND TECHNOLOGY and NOT on the colour of any player's skin!!!. Williams hits the ball HARDER than any other female player and as such, over 90% of her opponents can't even get near the ball never mind hit it!!!. Today's women's game IS BORING and just so you know who you're dealing with, iv'e been watching and going to tennis matches for OVER 50 YEARS and i'm a HUGE fan of Miss Diana Ross so DON'T YOU DARE TRY and label me RACIST as you KNOW NOTHING about me and you sound like someone who bases their tennis "opinions" simply by watching it on television lol!!!. You've got a cheek saying it was "inevitable" when Chris and Martina got to finals when Serena simply BATTERED her opponents all the way through nearly every single tournament she played in!!!. I'm done even replying to you as you know NOTHING about tennis, stats, achievements, on and on and on lol!!.

[@pgarciaAP]

James Waugh my inference was about attitude-aggressive, NOT race. I

[@richardsmith2890]

I can't be the only one who this that the whole court is as big as the serve box?. If Mary Ann put some effort into running she would have won the match.

[@ABlueDahlia]

04:16 so no let for that ball falling? Oh this is the US Open.. of course not! lol

[@aglom69]

She served with 2 balls in her hand. If the 1st serve went in she would gently toss it behind herself. I guess back then she had to take both of the balls at once from the ball kid.

[@happyherbert1984]

It was common back then.

[@kofipokuantwi-boateng5446]

I can only imagine the number of slams Roger Federer and Venus Williams would have if the us open was still played on grass

[@jasperherr8694]

1970s Aesthetic is no joke. I dont understand why she then dropped that feminine style to a wolf haircut in the 80s

[@seyeondaddy]

Chris' biggest problem is that she was born in the same era as Martina.

[@scotth6814]

The greatest rivalry in women's tennis: Evert vs Navratilova. The younger generation these days have no idea.

[@ryanje8147]

these ball kids were terrible. Stray balls on the court and the umpire didn't even call a let. LOL

[@willybeama1]

The audience is so...white.

[@johniii8147]

Of course it was a tennis crowd of 1971

[@thorium222]

There were no black people in the US prior to 1980. The socialist leftist let them in.

[@zeddeka]

Forest Hills, where the US Open was held back then, was notoriously snooty. It was like a very exclusive country club.

[@markwhitman9029]

That's because tennis was a white man's game except for Ashe and Althea Gibson so stop reverse discrimination comments

[@cpg8000]

Bud Collins was an awful commentator

[@willythefree]

Chris Evert played worse than the opening. I didn't know she was that bad. How come she won that many slams? Sorry they didn't have black tennis players at that time.

[@ag358]

She played great tennis her whole career and we've had black tennis players playing internationally since 1950 with the great althea Gibson and have had since then, to me they are tennis players, Morgan freeman is right. He said, i view everyone as a person, not a black man or a white man. We will be as one, when everyone stops labeling people white, black, or whatever. Morgan freeman is a great actor and a better man .

[@blake7871]

willythefree Well, the reason there aren’t many black players is takes a special kind of mental toughness to be a tennis player and black folks on average don’t have that. Lack of fathers in their lives plays a role.

[@markwhitman9029]

Skinny? No she was the correct weight. Today's girls are all fat especially Serena and would be ostracized back in my days of the 60s and 70s

[@markwhitman9029]

@@blake7871 good for you saying this but bet you will be called a fascist and it will be uncalled for

[@markwhitman9029]

I meant to type rascist

[@nunyadamnbidness2531]

surpassed by pam shriver, venus williams and tops bianca andreescu who won by beating the greatest of all time.

[@lanceb.]

C’mon Bianca!

[@crispim27]

Je préfère les ataques puissance de serena

[@janjr165]

It’s easy to be great against mediocrity. When you have that much time to decide what to do with the ball the entire game of tennis is made far too easy, and Chris took advantage. The game moved so damn slow back then the women may as well have been playing golf. Chrissy wasn’t great - the media made her great. 🥱

[@ag358]

If you've ever seen them play then, you'd change your mind. They could flat out rip the ball. Roscoe tanner served over 150mph with a wood racket. Everts was young , she would get much stronger but she was hitting it hard during some of this. The camera technology of yesteryear always looks slow. Golf is the same. But ive seen evert live and she could pound the ball.

[@KellyShay-gy5ex]

She did all any player can be asked to do. She dominated her era. You do realize the difference in racket tech, right? And if it was so easy to accomplish what Chris did, then why didn't more players accomplish what she did?

[@marinagamm1951]

@@KellyShay-gy5ex😮

[@willythefree]

omg chris evert was so overrated

[@Tennisisreallyfun]

Really? 21 majors (singles and doubles combined) and a career spanning 18 years (ending with a quarterfinal major run) and you call that “overrated”? Damn, okay😂

[@Buchanan-p6f]

You're overrated

[@CosmicEmm]

They didn't call her "The Ice Princess" for no reason. Undoubtedly the coldest woman this sport has ever seen and my all-time favorite. She oozed class.

[@robrivax]

Chrissie is my all time fav too. She had her game face on: Ice Princess etc... You know Serena has her game face too, and Serena's father told her: play tennis like they stole something from you, and you can see that on Serena's face, very different approach, both with stellar results.

[@kyngahmed3667]

InstaBlaster...

[@maudeboggins9834]

I was first aware of Chris Evert in 1974 Wimbledon when she & Jimmy Connors were the single champions.

[@TX1961]

Coolest

[@Tennisisreallyfun]

@@TX1961I like “coolest” better than “coldest”.

[@kenarthur6253]

The beginning of an amazing run of dominance by Chris Evert.

[@JamaalABivens]

Since I practically grew up in the 80s and 90s tennis eras, it's so weird to see a) the US Open on grass and b) the players talking to each other and sharing a table during the match at 4:42. Interesting!

[@ag358]

The us open was on grass, then clay and finally hard court all in the later part of the 70s connors is the only player to win the us open on all 3 of the surfaces. He could have won the 74 grand slam but was banned in 74 so he missed the french, he missed 6 years of playing the French because of it during his prime years. 109 singles titles , most in men's tennis.

[@firstntnltaxliensinvestmen9487]

...while drinking Pepsi! ;-)

[@tomloft2000]

it was almost an amateur tournament(esp. for the women).if you lost in the 1st round you barely covered expenses.

[@Belgarath777]

@@ag358 also Chris chewing gum in the middle of the match lol

[@maudeboggins9834]

Chris Evert grew up in the 70's & 80's. She had to change her style along with other ladies tennis players to keep up with Martina Navratilova's powerful game of going to the net & volleys.

[@jm7804]

Thanks for the upload. I have never seen any of the Eisel match. Wonderful quality. You can actually see and track the ball, which is rarely the case. Evert's journey at the US Open is nothing short of magical. The magic started in 1971 and ended 18 years later when she conducted a tennis clinic against 15 year old Monica Seles in her US Open debut. She competed in 19 US Opens; won 6 (record shared with Williams), RU 3 times, semis an astonishing 17 times. If the US Open is around 1,000 years from now that record will never be broken. Serena will have to make the semis 4 more times just to match the record. Graf made the semis 11 times and Navratilova 12 times.

[@shihlin1]

Sometimes I wonder about that last match between Chris and Monica in 89. Me thinks Monica tanked that match. At least she wasn't 100% in the match. She didn't want to be remembered as the person to defeat Chris at her last U.S. Open. You compare their match at the Open to the 89 Slim's final at Houston and it's like two totally different Monica's.

[@lenwelch2195]

@@shihlin1totally not true. This was not the Houston evert that Monica squeaked by 6-4 in the third set on clay ( an equalizer). This match as far as everts quality of play was one of her top 5 matches in her career. Number one was 80 semi beating Austin then 85 and 86 French, Then 76 Wimbledon win over Evonne then the Seles match at the open in 89.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

Geez, I looked her up...I knew she one of the greats, but not THIS good: made the semis in 52 of the 56 majors she played--34 straight. Most finals of any player ever.

[@pablofrank2466]

Chris Evert's Grand Slam debut and the start of 34 consecutive appearances in semi finals or better until she lost in the 3rd round of Wimbledon 1983.

[@roberthickerty390]

Chris Evert was to tennis as Greg Maddox was to baseball, not overpowering but rather all about control and location. It was her ability to fool her opponent as to where the ball would go rather than slamming it by. She was and still is my favorite tennis player.

[@willkittwk]

Christy my favorite girl player for watch. Anna Cornakova maybe tie with her.

[@thorium222]

It is telling how you can see all these natural skills already in the beginning of the careers of the all time greats.

[@Ineddiblehulk]

Totally. All the fundamentals were there, so it was just about making a very robust game even better. They weren’t wasting time ‘fixing’ anything

[@lenwelch2195]

Against king there was a point where king drop shouted to Chris’s forehand. Normally she smacks it crosscourt but this is the only time I ever saw Chris hit a crosscourt angled drop shot looking winner. I can’t ever recall her hitting that shot again in her career. The number one quality was Chris’s mind. When players had to play against her they were not up against her powerful shots from the baseline , they were up against Chris mind. She knew how to play two shots ahead , playing chess and knew in advance the likely response from her opponent. Instinctively chriS was just always there . Many have said that she was not as athletic ,even she stresses this but it is not true . I can’t remember her ever reaching , swiping, not getting to a ball. Why run desperately when you can just be there. If a player hit a shot that she couldn’t get to I say one thing - that player hit a tremendous shot. , not that chriS was slow. Her composure was so surprising for a 16 yr old at the time because only Maureen Connolly 20 yrs before was similar in age . Looking very feminine , one assigned stereotypical attributes to chriS and seemed shocked at her stereotypical male attributes of determination , mental toughness . These qualities were commonly described men but not women in 1971. Of course now we know determination is not a male or female attribute, it’s a human attribute. ChriS in her own way lead the path for little girls like Sabatini, Seles, Capriati , Davenport to think “ I want to play tennis and do that. ChriS made it ok for. Young women to show attributes such as mentally ruthless on the court and still be a lady . The other quality chriS had was that she never gave up . Most surely would down a set and 6-5 down 40-0 down. Not Christine Marie Evert.

[@stacitowery3475]

LOVE this so much, she was so beautiful and so composed❤

[@kojik9775]

Around this time, I just started playing tennis. I was a Japanese junior player. At that time, it was not possible to see Chris play in Japan. Only images from tennis magazines. I saw it for the first time in almost 50 years. thank you!

[@encinobalboa]

Serena won more GS but Chris's consistency will never be matched. Her career GS semi-final appearance percentage is a record that will never be broken.

[@americanpatriot7233]

wow she had to correct the umpire on the score, how embarassing

[@drewhendley]

Chrissie a brilliant tennis tactition 🎾

[@johniii8147]

Even at a very young age she could out think you

[@willkittwk]

That why her pop is tennis coach who teaching her from diaper age.

[@mc9684]

I love the cans of Pepsi waiting for them on break!!! Lol

[@stevec6455]

Billie Jean never had a high likeability factor. Evert was off the chart.

[@zeddeka]

Yes. As Anne Jones said about BJK many years later, "She did a lot for women's tennis, but she also made sure there was always something in it for her." She tends to get put on a pedestal as an icon by many in the women's game, but she was a much more nuanced character than that. Definitively had a more unpleasant, quite narcissistic side to her.

[@kenweeden5639]

Then came the backless tennis dresses she made famous..hot.hot.hot.

[@bruceburns1672]

Ever the prim and proper lady, very feminine and petite, an absolute pleasure to watch along with her brilliant tennis.

[@j.d.thompson3505]

Can't do much against that. She brought many new fans to the sport.

[@heykresl]

I'm amazed that she doesn't yell 'come on!', make a fist with her non racket hand, and look at the players box after every point!

[@1bcordell]

. . . and shriek (or in Serena's case, grunt) on every shot.

[@raynerstuelgalid]

So good to see the young Ice Princess after all these years. She was the Original Ice long before Borg became the stoic player on the professional courts.

[@xav9258]

Both legends. Borg is my fave male player and Evert my fave female player. However, I think Borg had more influence on tennis than any player who's ever existed.

[@ag358]

@@xav9258 connors, borg and McEnroe, connors holds the most singles titles in men's tennis with 109 wins, not spoken about very often.

[@ns2110theonly]

Please USTA post the entire match if possible! 🙏🏻

[@drobson8004]

Given the racquets and the time, decent pace on her backhand, and laser like precision on her passing shots.

[@ag358]

Roscoe tanner in a tournament in miami was clocked at 153 mph on his serve. But Connors beat him 8 out of 9 meetings in the 70s. It was 1978 when tanner was clocked. He routinely served that fast but connors was the best return of serve the game has seen. 109 singles titles, men's record. Oh tanner used a wooden racket, the biggest advantage the large rackets have now is easier to spin the ball, and mis hits still have pace, where the older rackets you might not get it over the net.

[@preciousjey]

Looks like she was a hot chili pepper in the thumbnail.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

What's impressive is that it's all skill: hardly any musculature on her.

[@pablovenegas8975]

Am sure cris evert spend hours working out her groundstrokes before this that is why she win saving all these matchs points

[@Slipperman2112]

Que grande la Cris!!

[@mikefernandez3742]

Great video quality!! Loved watching it.

[@christschool]

I never knew the US Open was on grass at one point.

[@TheVerbalVolley]

It was played on grass until 1975. It was played on clay from 1975 to 1977. It has been played on hard courts since 1978.

[@paulshawley6490]

Racket technology changed the game and not for the better. 95% of the game now is slugging it out from the baseline - so dull.

[@barry_kelly]

Awe the innocent memories of the past. TY