The Evert–Navratilova rivalry was a tennis rivalry in the 1970s and 1980s between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, widely regarded as two of the greatest

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

players of all time. It is considered to be one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history and sports in general. The pair contested 80 matches between 1973 and 1988 (60 of which were finals), with Navratilova leading the overall head-to-head 43–37 and 36–24 in finals. In the 12 years from the introduction of the

WTA rankings The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975. Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1. Ranking method The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...

in November 1975 until August 1987, one of the two held the top spot in all but 23 weeks, switching multiple times between 1978 and 1985. More specifically, in the first 615 weeks of the WTA rankings they collectively held the No. 1 ranking for 592 weeks, Navratilova at 332 weeks and Evert at 260 weeks. Such was their dominance over other players, that for the period 1977-1987 when the two rivals were first ranked No.1 & No.2 (and generally No.1 & No.2 for the entire ten year period), only three times was any other player able to beat them both back-to-back in the same tournament:

Evonne Goolagong Cawley Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...

at the 1978 Virginia Slims of Boston (SF Navratilova 7-6 7-6/F Evert 4-6 6-1 6-4);

Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won three Grand Slam titles: the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon ...

at the 1979 U.S. Open (SF Navratilova 7-5 7-5/F Evert 6-4 6-3); and Hana Mandlíková at the 1985 U.S. Open (SF Evert 4-6 6-2 6-3/F Navratilova 7-6 1-6 7-6). From the 1981 Australian Open to the 1985 Wimbledon Championships, the duo won a record 15 consecutive major singles titles. From the 1982 Australian Open to the 1987 US Open, they won 21 of 24 major singles titles and at least one of them appeared in each of those 24 finals. Evert and Navratilova encountered each other most often on the faster court surfaces (

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

and indoors), where Navratilova's offensive serve-and-volley style of play gave her the upper hand over Evert's counter-attacking baseline approach. Evert enjoyed more success in the rivalry on hard courts and especially on

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

courts. Navratilova led Evert 10–5 on grass, 9–7 on outdoor hard courts, and 21–14 on indoor courts, but Evert led 11–3 on clay courts. Evert led their head-to-head in three-set match wins 15–14, but Navratilova led 29–22 in straight-set encounters. Navratilova was most dominant in encounters in majors, leading 14–8 overall and 10–4 in finals. Navratilova had the upper hand in their head-to-head played over nine seasons (1979, 1981–88), whereas Evert led for each of the first six years of their rivalry (1973–78).

Grand Slam matches

Head-to-head breakdown

* All matches: (80) Navratilova 43–37 * All finals: (60) Navratilova 36–24 * Grand Slam matches: Navratilova 14–8 * Grand Slam finals: Navratilova 10–4 * Grand Slam semifinals: Tied 4–4 * WTA Tour Championships finals: Navratilova 2–1 * Non-Grand Slam & Non-WTA Tour Championships finals: Navratilova 24–20 * Three-set matches: Evert 15–14 * Straight-set matches: Navratilova 29–22

Results on each surface

Hard courts A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...

: Tied 8–8 * Clay courts: Evert 11–3 *

Grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

s: Navratilova 10–5 *

Carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The International Tennis Federation describes the surface as a "textile or polymeric material supplied in rolls or sheets of finished product." It is one of the fastest court types, second only to grass co ...

s: Navratilova 22–13

List of all matches

WTA,

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...

, and

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

main draw results included.) Martina Navratilova leads the head-to-head 43–37. Walkovers are not counted as official wins or losses.

Singles: 80

Evert 37 – Navratilova 43

Grand Slam performance timeline comparison

For all players in their era see:

Tennis performance timeline comparison (women) This article presents in a tabular form the career tennis Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships and Olympic singles results of every woman who has reached the singles final of at least one Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships or Olympi ...

1971–1977

* The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January (J) and December (D).

1978–1984

1985–1991

1992–2006

WTA rankings

Year-end ranking timeline

Evert retired in September 1989 after the US Open, at which time she was ranked world No. 4.

References

External links

International Tennis Federation (ITF) player head to head
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evert-Navratilova Rivalry Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Tennis rivalries Sports rivalries in the United States 1970s in sports 1980s in sports