Navratilova criticism of Evert – 2000/2001?
….John

Chris has class, grace, beauty and humility - something sorely lacking in many of the past and present female tennis champions. I believe she occasionally gets slighted by others (King, Navratilova, critics, etc.) due to the fact that she did not have an ultra flashy power game. A few years ago, Navratilova was doing some TV tennis commentary and had the gall to state "She plays like Chris Evert" in a not-so-subtle, negative tone while commenting on Ai Sugyama (sp?) playing style. She then attempted to qualify it by saying, "With no disrespect to Chris Evert." Yet I thought to myself, "Chris would never say something like that!" Seemingly, finesse, precision, placement and superior mental capabilities too often get overlooked when evaluating both a players skills as well as their place in history. Navratilova and esp King seem to harbor some resentment over Evert which is interesting because I only recall Chris saying positive things about each of them! Perhaps it's just a little envy?