Chris Evert is one of the greatest tennis players in history.
She enjoyed plenty of success in both singles and doubles competitions and forged an iconic rivalry with fellow legend Martina Navratilova.
The American was one of the leading figures in driving change in the women’s game in the late 20th century and she became the first WTA World number one in 1975.
Evert finished her illustrious career with 18 Grand Slam singles titles, but there is a reason that can explain why she did not win more.
Chris Evert explains why she was absent from multiple Grand Slams in her career
Along with Navratilova, Chris Evert dominated the 1970s and 1980s and they finished with 18 Grand Slam titles each.
The 70-year-old’s consistent, deep groundstrokes and excellent baseline game helped her win all four Grand Slams at least twice.
But during an interview with Tennis365, despite her success Evert thinks she could have achieved even more had she not missed a total of 15 Grand Slams.
Explaining why this was the case, she said: “Winning Grand Slams was not a priority for us at that time. We were trying to create a tour that could possibly allow 200-300 women to have a tour that would allow them to earn a living.
“I missed 12 Australian Opens and three French Opens because our priority was playing the Virginia Slims Tour and trying to build that into a platform that could sustain women’s professional tennis.
“The men had people doing this for them, building their tour. We had to do that ourselves. It is to the credit of Billie Jean King and the women who led the way with her that they created a professional circuit that gave women a chance to earn a good living.
“There wasn’t any other professional women’s sports then, so what they did created a legacy that had an impact not just in tennis, but in so many sports to this day. Our sport paved the way, no doubt about that.”
Where was Chris Evert playing that caused her to miss some Grand Slams?
During her Tennis365 interview Evert says she missed multiple Grand Slam events as she appeared on the Virginia Slims Circuit during the early 1970s.
This took place before the WTA was formed and Evert and other players committed to this tour as it played a crucial role in the development of making women’s tennis professional.
During her time on the Virginia Slims Circuit, Evert achieved plenty of success and won the Virginia Slims Championships, which is the WTA Finals, in 1972, 1973, and 1975.
In 1977, the WTA Tour had already been established but the season-ending championships were still named the Virginia Slims Championships.
In the final, Evert came from a set down to defeat Britain’s Sue Barker 2–6, 6–1, 6–1 to win her sixth title of that season and the 73rd of the 157 she claimed during her career.
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