The Evert–Navratilova rivalry was a tennis rivalry in the 1970s and 1980s between

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

and

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

, widely regarded as two of the greatest

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

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. It is the most prolific tennis rivalry of the

Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...

. In the 12 years following the introduction of the WTA rankings in November 1975 until August 1987, one of the two held the world No. 1 position in all but 23 weeks. 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 world No. 1 and No. 2, only three times did any other player 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 professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis ...

at the 1978 Virginia Slims of Boston,

Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Austin won 30 WTA Tour-level singles tit ...

at the 1979 US Open, and

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level sin ...

at the 1985 US Open). From the

1981 Australian Open The 1981 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Victoria (state), Victoria in Australia. It was the 70th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 30 November through ...

to the

1985 Wimbledon Championships The 1985 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 99th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

, the duo won a record 15 consecutive

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

singles titles. Evert and Navratilova encountered each other most often on the faster court surfaces (

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

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 court A hardcourt (or hard court) is a type of 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 concrete, asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resin ...

s and especially on

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

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. Evert led their head-to-head for each of the first six years of their rivalry (1973–78), whereas Navratilova had the upper hand for each year in the rest of their rivalry (1979, 1981–88). Following their retirements, they became close friends.

Grand Slam matches

* Final matches indicated in bold.

Famous matches

1978 Wimbledon final

Navratilova won their 26th match in the final of the

1978 Wimbledon Championships The 1978 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 26 June until 8 July. It was the 92 ...

. Evert had won the first set, and was cruising in the second, until Navratilova rallied back and won the match in three-sets. The third set was a classic combination of a see-saw battle and a contrast in styles between the two players. Navratilova won 12 of the last 13 points for the title, winning the third set 7–5. It is considered to be one of the best women's finals in Wimbledon history.

1981 Australian Open final

In their 45th match, Evert and Navratilova played a three-set epic at the final of the

. In his book, tennis historian Steve Flink ranks it as one of their two most significant matches, alongside the 1985 French Open final. Navratilova won the match despite dropping the opening set, winning the final set 7–5. Evert considered the match to be one of her toughest losses. The tournament was played on grass.

1982 Australian Open final

In a rematch of the previous year's final, Evert beat Navratilova in three sets at the

1982 Australian Open The 1982 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 71st edition of the Australian Open and was held from Monday 29 November through Monday 13 ...

. It was a straightforward match, with Evert claiming the first set 6–3, Navratilova the second set 6–2, and Evert finally winning with a third set score of 6–3. With her win, Evert achieved the Career Grand Slam. Like the previous year's final, the match was played on grass instead of hardcourt.

1984 US Open final

In their 61st match, Navratilova won in three-sets at the 1984 US Open final. Navratilova was on a 54-match winning streak coming into the match, one shy of Evert's then Open Era record 55-match winning streak, she would eventually extend the record to 74 matches won in a row, a record that still stands. Navratilova dropped the first set, yet rallied to win the next two to win the US Open. It is considered to be one of their best matches, and one of the best matches in US Open history. Evert is quoted as saying about the impact of that loss that "It was the most devastated I've ever felt over a tennis match."

1985 French Open final

In their 65th match, Evert and Navratilova played a three-set epic at the final of the

1985 French Open The 1985 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 27 May until 9 June. It was the 84th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand ...

. It was a rematch of the previous year's final at the

1984 French Open The 1984 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 28 May until 10 June. It was the 83rd staging of the French Open, and the first Gra ...

, which Navratilova won in straight sets. With the win, Evert reclaimed the No.1 ranking from Navratilova. Evert won the first set 6–3, before Navratilova rallied from down 2–4, 0–40 in the second set to force a third. In the deciding set, Evert let a 5–3 lead slip away, before eventually winning the third set 7–5. It is considered to be one of the greatest women's Grand Slam finals in history. Evert considers it her favorite win over Navratilova, as she was the underdog and Navratilova had recently strung together a great number of wins against Evert. It is one of the two matches that tennis historian Steve Flink considers the most significant in their rivalry, alongside the 1981 Australian Open final.

Frank Deford Benjamin Franklin Deford III (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's ''Morning Edition'' radio program. Deford wrote fo ...

described the match as the "finest match of their long rivalry".

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 * Other finals: Navratilova 24–19 * 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 type of 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 surf ...

: Tied 8–8 *

Clay court A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis is played. Clay courts are built on a foundation of crushed stone, brick, shale, and other construction aggregate, aggregate, with a thin layer of fine clay particles ...

s: Evert 11–3 *

Grass court A grass court is one of the 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. While grass courts are more tra ...

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 cha ...

, and Grand Slam 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)

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

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