ISBN: 0767918851 9780767918855

Category: Biography & Autobiography / Sports

Page count: 296

Over sixteen years, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova met on the tennis court a record eighty times - sixty times in finals. At their first match in Akron, Ohio, in 1973, Chris was an eighteen-year-old star and Martina, two years her junior, was an unknown Czech making her first trip to the United States. It would be two years before Martina finally beat Chris, and another year - after Navratilova had dropped twenty pounds and improved her game - before Evert publicly betrayed her first hint of concern. By then, the women were already friends and sometimes doubles partners. 'The rivals' examines the intertwined journey of these legendary champions, based on extensive interviews with each. Johnette Howard shows how Evert and Navratilova came of age during the rambunctious golden age of tennis in the 1970s, and how - together - they redefined womenís athletics during a time of volcanic change in sports and society.