Is Chris Evert an underrated grass court player

[martinezownsclay]

She has only (well saying only sounds funny as this is still great) 3 Wimbledon titles, but she has 10 Wimbledon finals, which is an incredible stat. She in fact, amazingly, has more Wimbledon finals than Steffi Graf, Venus Williams, and Billie Jean King, all whom would be considered as clearly better grass court players. 5 of her Wimbledon final losses were to Martina Navratilova, arguably the grass GOAT, and most likely the Wimbledon GOAT anyway. While she probably does not win all 5 of those had she not lost to Martina, she quite possibly wins 3 or 4 of the 5. Of course that type of hypothetical is mostly pointless, and is the same sort of thing Federer and Djokovic fans try to use at RG without Nadal, so I won't delve too far into that. She also only lost before the semis once from 1972 to 1989, a 3rd round loss to Kathy Jordan in 1983.

I do think the grass field a lot of the 80s was very short on depth, but in the 70s there was quite a bit of it, and she still was consistently rated as the favorite to win Wimbledon almost every year from 75-80 (apart from maybe 79), in addition to winning in 74. She did not win all those years, but she went in as the bookies favorite nearly every time.

 

[buscemi]

And, of course, Evert made the Australian Open final all 5 times she played it on grass, winning twice:

-1974: lost a three set final to Goolagong;​

-1981: lost a three set final (7-5 in the third set) to Navratilova;​

-1982: beat Navratilova in a three set final;​

-1984: beat Sukova in a three set final;​

-1985: lost to Navratilova in a three set final​

Other notable grass results include winning Sydney in 1981 by beating Navratilova in the final, winning Chichester in 1980 by beating Goolagong in the final, losing the 1978 Eastbourne final to Navratilova, 9-7 in the third, and winning Palm Springs in 1977, beating BJK in the final.

Overall, Evert was 211-33 (86.5%) on grass while Navratilova was 314-42 (88.2%) and Graf was 84-14 (85.7%).

 

[martinezownsclay]

And, of course, Evert made the Australian Open final all 5 times she played it on grass, winning twice:

-1974: lost a three set final to Goolagong;​

-1981: lost a three set final (7-5 in the third set) to Navratilova;​

-1982: beat Navratilova in a three set final;​

-1984: beat Sukova in a three set final;​

-1985: lost to Navratilova in a three set final​

Other notable grass results include winning Sydney in 1981 by beating Navratilova in the final, winning Chichester in 1980 by beating Goolagong in the final, losing the 1978 Eastbourne final to Navratilova, 9-7 in the third, and winning Palm Springs in 1977, beating BJK in the final.

Overall, Evert was 211-33 (86.5%) on grass while Navratilova was 314-42 (88.2%) and Graf was 84-14 (85.7%).

Wow never knew Evert had a better win percentage than Graf on grass. Do you know what the Williams sisters win percentages on grass are?

 

[buscemi]

Venus is 98-26 (79%)
Serena is 107-16 (87%)

All numbers from Tennis Abstract, which has all players' records by surface.

 

[martinezownsclay]

Venus is 98-26 (79%)
Serena is 107-16 (87%)

All numbers from Tennis Abstract, which has all players' records by surface.

Thanks. Did not know that. Venus's is surprisingly low, but then again she is playing into her 40s by choice.

 

[buscemi]

Thanks. Did not know that. Venus's is surprisingly low, but then again she is playing into her 40s by choice.

Yeah, 6-7 on grass since 2018 lowers her winning percentage quite a bit.

 

[martinezownsclay]

Someone mentioned in another thread Goolagong's reputation would be far better if she won 1 of those 3 US Open finals she lost in the mid 70s.

The same is true of Evert at Wimbledon. I think if she beat Navratilova in 1 of those finals, how she is regarded as a grass player shoots far upwards, a lot more than just the amount of 1 title. And if she ever won say 1 of the 78 or 79 finals, but had been able to pull off a big upset win in one of the 82, 84, or 85 finals, she would probably be talked about as one of the grass GOATs, despite still not being amongst the few leaders in Wimbledon titles. Alas she didn't though, and her 0-5 record vs Navratilova in Wimbledon finals is probably a large reason she is underrated on grass.

 

[BTURNER]

She has only (well saying only sounds funny as this is still great) 3 Wimbledon titles, but she has 10 Wimbledon finals, which is an incredible stat. She in fact, amazingly, has more Wimbledon finals than Steffi Graf, Venus Williams, and Billie Jean King, all whom would be considered as clearly better grass court players. 5 of her Wimbledon final losses were to Martina Navratilova, arguably the grass GOAT, and most likely the Wimbledon GOAT anyway. While she probably does not win all 5 of those had she not lost to Martina, she quite possibly wins 3 or 4 of the 5. Of course that type of hypothetical is mostly pointless, and is the same sort of thing Federer and Djokovic fans try to use at RG without Nadal, so I won't delve too far into that. She also only lost before the semis once from 1972 to 1989, a 3rd round loss to Kathy Jordan in 1983.

I do think the grass field a lot of the 80s was very short on depth, but in the 70s there was quite a bit of it, and she still was consistently rated as the favorite to win Wimbledon almost every year from 75-80 (apart from maybe 79), in addition to winning in 74. She did not win all those years, but she went in as the bookies favorite nearly every time.

Evert was asked if she could replay one match in her career, which one would it be. Her answer was that 1977 wimbledon semifinal against Wade. Because she knew she could raise her grass game and beat Wade, and the final against Stove is a sure final. I was surprised but I figured it out. Thats a sure bet to another title while Martina had all sorts of levels she too could raise her game to.

 

[martinezownsclay]

Evert was asked if she could replay one match in her career, which one would it be. Her answer was that 1977 wimbledon semifinal against Wade. Because she knew she could raise her grass game and beat Wade, and the final against Stove is a sure final. I was surprised but I figured it out. Thats a sure bet to another title while Martina had all sorts of levels she too could raise her game to.

That makes total sense. I am sure it frustrates her in general she could not win more titles in the 77-81 period (only 1) before Martina really began totally GOATing (although she did lose to an already really strong Martina in both the 78 and 79 finals, after losing a 4-2 lead in the 3rd set of the 78 final so that was probably a bit galling), but the 77 one would be most of all by far.

Sue Barker has also said on BBC broadcasts the match she wishes she could replay the most is the 77 Wimbledon semi final vs Stove. That was likely always going to be her only real shot ever at a truly big final (the watered down French title was not that) and possibly even big title playing a 32 year old Wade who she did well against head to head that particularly year.