Chris Evert

Name at birth: Christine Marie Evert

Chris Evert was one of women's tennis most famous champions between 1974 and 1986, known for her poise on court, her powerful two-fisted backhand, and her 18 major singles titles. Chris Evert grew up playing tennis with her father in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When she was 15 years old she landed in the spotlight with a win over the top-ranked woman in tennis, Margaret Court. The next year she made it to the semi-finals of the U.S. Open; she lost to Billie Jean King, but Chrissie's skill and maturity on the court made the tenacious teen a crowd favorite. Evert's cool demeanor on the court earned her the nicknames "Ice Princess" and "Ice Maiden," but her easy charm off the court made her famous beyond the sports pages. She had a two-year romance (1974-76) with tennis champ Jimmy Connors that only heightened her celebrity. Throughout the late 1970s, Evert was one of the sport's dominant players, and her charisma and a thrilling rivalry with Martina Navratilova helped popularize women's tennis. (The two faced each other 80 times; Navratilova ended up with a 43-37 advantage.) Retired since 1989, Evert now does on-air tennis and sports commentary for television. She holds 157 singles titles, 8 doubles titles and a career total of 18 Grand Slam singles titles. She won the French Open seven times, the US Open six times, Wimbledon three times and the Australian Open twice. In 2022, Evert announced that she had been diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer and would begin treatment.