Evert's 3 set stats.

[BTURNER]

Evert played 215 3 set matches in her pro tour career (look-back period is from 1970-1989 and includes Fed cup and Olympics matches) winning 163 of them (77.%) and losing 50. Of the 168 she won, 98 times (66% of the time) she lost first set and came from behind to win. 67 times she won the first and third sets but lot the middle set.

Of the 50 3 setters that she lost, she won the second set in 28, but lost the decider. Only 22 times in that span of 20 years, did Evert lose a match after winning the first set. I'll go into more detail on this subset, specifying the venue if it happened in a major.

Court did it in the 73 RG final; Goolagong did it 4 times including the '72 Wimbledon semi and the '74 Aussie final. King had a come-from- behind win in 1972, as did Fromholtz in 1976. Navratilova came from behind for the first time in '78 Wimbledon final and those 8 are all there were in the 70's.

Martina came back after losing the first set 4 other times including '81 Aussie, the 85 Wimbledon, and 84 Open finals. Mandlikova came from a set deficit to beat Chris twice including the 85 Open semifinal. Evert's other losses in these circumstances were to Sukova ,Kate Gompert , Cechinni and McNeil at the Open QF all in 1987. Then Reggi in the '88 Olympics; Graf and Seles in 89. And all that adds to a total of 22 losses after winning a first set.

A closer look at the major Head to heads and the 3 setters within. Only Court, Graf, Seles and McNeil have winning head to head in 3 setters and all but one got their wins in the 86-89 period.

Evert 8:9 vs Austin of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 1
Evert 23:1 vs Barker of which 3 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 0
Evert 9:0 vs Basset of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 4, lost 0
Evert 22:1 vs Casals of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 4, lost 0
Evert 9:4 vs Court of which 5 were 3 setters. Evert won 2, lost 3.
Evert 13:3 vs Fromholtz of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 1
Evert 9:2 vs Garrison of which only 1 was a 3 setter. Evert won 1, lost 0
Evert 26:13 vs Goolagong of which 15 were 3 setters. Evert won 8, lost 7
Evert 6:8 vs Graf of which only 1 was a 3 setter. Evert won 0, lost 1
Evert 9:0 vs Leslie Hunt of which 3 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 0
Evert 17:3 vs Jaeger of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 1
Evert 14:0 vs Jausovec of which 2 were 3 setters. Evert won 2, lost 0
Evert 12:3 vs Jordan of which 2 were 3 setters. Evert won 1, lost 1
Evert 19:7 vs King of which 7 were 3 setters. Evert won 4, lost 3
Evert 13:0 vs Kohde-Kilch of which 2 were 3 setters. Evert won 2, lost 0
Evert 3:2 vs McNeil of which 2 were 3 setters. Evert won 0, lost 2
Evert 12:2 vs M. Maleeva of which 9 were 3 setters. Evert won 8, lost 1
Evert 21:7 vs Mandlikova of which 9 were 3 setters. Evert won 7, lost 2
Evert 15:0 vs Morazova of which 3 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 0
Evert 37:43 vs Navratilova of which 38 were 3 setters. Evert won 16, lost 12
Evert 18:2 vs Melville-Reid of which 2 were 3 setters. Evert won 2, lost 0
Evert 6:5 vs Richey of which 2 were 3 setters. Evert won 1, lost 1
Evert 11:0 vs Russell of which 3 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 0
Evert 24:0 vs Ruzici of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 4, lost 0
Evert 6:3 vs Sabatini of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 1
Evert 2:1 vs Seles of which only 1 was a 3 setter. Evert won 0, lost 1
Evert 19:3 vs Shriver of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 3, lost 1
Evert 22:0 vs Stove of which 4 were 3 setters. Evert won 4, lost 0
Evert 17:2 vs Sukova of which 7 were 3 setters. Evert won 6, lost 1
Evert 20:1 vs Turnbull of which 3 were 3 setters. Evert won 2, lost 1
Evert 40:6 vs Wade of which 9 were 3 setters. Evert won 7, lost 2

 

[boredone3456]

People often talk about how tough it is to beat Serena in a big match when she is hungry to win it, but before there was Serena there was Evert...and Evert played EVERY SINGLE MATCH to win. She never gave up until the chair said game set match. She was insanely brutal and if you took a set from her she came at you harder. Her record in 3 set matches is honestly intimidating given the sheer name power of some of her chief opponents.

Probably the biggest stat for me is her being 16-12 against Navratilova in 3 setters even though Martina lead the H2H overall. Martina of all people knew if you had to play Evert...you had to kill her quickly or you were in for a bloodbath..and odds are the blood spilled would be yours

 

[CEvertFan]

Adding to that is the sheer amount of times when Evert got beaten that she made it a point in the next match to give her all so her opponents wouldn't have back to back wins over her.

“The worse thing you can do to yourself is to beat Chris, because the next time she plays you, she goes out of her way to make it her business to really show you who’s boss.” - Virginia Wade


One of the many reasons she's my favorite.

 

[BTURNER]

People often talk about how tough it is to beat Serena in a big match when she is hungry to win it, but before there was Serena there was Evert...and Evert played EVERY SINGLE MATCH to win. She never gave up until the chair said game set match. She was insanely brutal and if you took a set from her she came at you harder. Her record in 3 set matches is honestly intimidating given the sheer name power of some of her chief opponents.

Probably the biggest stat for me is her being 16-12 against Navratilova in 3 setters even though Martina lead the H2H overall. Martina of all people knew if you had to play Evert...you had to kill her quickly or you were in for a bloodbath..and odds are the blood spilled would be yours

On the other side of the coin was Goolagong's relative success in 3 setters
Evonne : 7 wins
1972 Wimbledon SF 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
1974 Melbourne, Australia F 7-6, 4-6, 6-0
1974 U.S. Open SF 6-0, 6-7, 6-3
1974 Denver F 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
1975 Boston, MA SF 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
1976 Slims Championships/L.A. F 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
1978 Boston F L 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

Chris: 8 wins
1972 Bonnie Belle Cup F w 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
1973 Miami Beach, FL F W 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
1973 St. Petersburg, FL F W 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
1975 Houston, TX SF W 4-6, 6-4, 7-6
1975 U.S. Open F W 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
1976 Wimbledon F W 6-3, 4-6, 8-6
1980 Chichester, England F W 6-3, 6-7, 7-5
1982 Palm Beach Gardens SF W 5-7, 6-1, 6-4

its also interesting note of trivia: the first 4 matches Hana played Evert were 3 setters, yet the only 3 setters she beat Chris in were in 85 and their last match in 89 and both were come-from behind victories for the Czeck/ Aussie.

How often did you ever see Evert physically tire in a match? I can only recall twice. Of course the 85 Marathon RG final and I felt she ran out of steam in the Key Biscayne final vs Sabatini. In virtually every other match, she looked fresher than her opponent. She was far more 'motion efficient' in her footwork and stroke production' than her opponent through most of her career and never wasted energy on emotional displays. No one hit closer to the sides lines/baseline more frequently without ending the point with errors/ winners than Evert. We won't even discuss that drop shot or lob. Heat/ humidity almost never troubled her much. She was a Florida girl.

 

[boredone3456]

Goolagong and Evert in this respect are an interesting pair

Goolagong did so well because she was such a naturally talented and gifted athlete. She was scary because with her you never knew WHAT was going to happen when she took the court...would she be focused..would she "go walkabout" as the press dubbed it...what would happen. Her insane natural instincts made her deadly.

Evert on the flip side was arguably most mentally tough/insanely stubborn woman every to play the game. She came at you, kept coming at you, refused to go away until to basically took her head off. In her case stubborn is not an insult, she never quit and never back down from her opponents, and thats what she did so well in 3 setters...her large amount of talent and her shot arsenal not withstanding..without that head she wouldn't have done as well.

 

[PDJ]

Goolagong and Evert in this respect are an interesting pair

Goolagong did so well because she was such a naturally talented and gifted athlete. She was scary because with her you never knew WHAT was going to happen when she took the court...would she be focused..would she "go walkabout" as the press dubbed it...what would happen. Her insane natural instincts made her deadly.

Evert on the flip side was arguably most mentally tough/insanely stubborn woman every to play the game. She came at you, kept coming at you, refused to go away until to basically took her head off. In her case stubborn is not an insult, she never quit and never back down from her opponents, and thats what she did so well in 3 setters...her large amount of talent and her shot arsenal not withstanding..without that head she wouldn't have done as well.

Spot on re Cawley. I was thinking similarly whilst reading the excellent OP.
Without her 'head' she would have been a similar to the legion of imitators that followed.
And to also quote (albeit not exactly) Virginia Wade : there are all these players that want to play like Chris, style their game on Chris, but they can't match her mental ability. That's what makes her unique, a champion.

 

[jrepac]

It's stats like this that really show how good Evert really was....seems like she is rather under-rated relative to Serena nowadays...but she had a tremendous amount of consistency in her game, year after year. The numbers don't lie.

Her game seemed very simple to the casual observer. It was not. As a poster noted, she wound up doing relatively little running while her opponents wound up exhausted. Her use of the court, at times, was surreal. I think only Hingis comes close in that respect.

 

[PDJ]

It's stats like this that really show how good Evert really was....seems like she is rather under-rated relative to Serena nowadays...but she had a tremendous amount of consistency in her game, year after year. The numbers don't lie.

Her game seemed very simple to the casual observer. It was not. As a poster noted, she wound up doing relatively little running while her opponents wound up exhausted. Her use of the court, at times, was surreal. I think only Hingis comes close in that respect.

The personal feeling I get re SW/Evert is how much emphasis we as individuals rate consistency. To some its a dirty word and therefore devalue Evert's accomplishments. I don't hold that view, quite the opposite, I think Evert's consistency was quite extraordinary. There will never be another to compare in this area. In my opinion.

 

[Mr.Lob]

People often talk about how tough it is to beat Serena in a big match when she is hungry to win it, but before there was Serena there was Evert...and Evert played EVERY SINGLE MATCH to win. She never gave up until the chair said game set match. She was insanely brutal and if you took a set from her she came at you harder. Her record in 3 set matches is honestly intimidating given the sheer name power of some of her chief opponents.

Probably the biggest stat for me is her being 16-12 against Navratilova in 3 setters even though Martina lead the H2H overall. Martina of all people knew if you had to play Evert...you had to kill her quickly or you were in for a bloodbath..and odds are the blood spilled would be yours

16-12 against Navratilova in 3 setters... interesting AND telling!!

 

[BTURNER]

Okay now I am lost on my math. I thought that the stats existed in that OP to determine exactly what Evert's chances ended up being to win a three setter after losing the first set, but I can't figure out how to calculate it as a percentage. What was her career win/loss percentage was, after losing a first set. Did she win 40% of them and lose 60% of them for example? I guess I'd need to know how many times she lost first sets in her career though, because I haven't had reason to count her total lost matches including the straight set losses. HMMM.

146 total losses. Hmmm. I know this is junior high level story problem but frankly, my math skills did not evolve much from 4th grade. LOL Maybe one of you college graduates will help me out !