Chris Evert Quotes

#1. My first U.S. Open I think was just very special for me because that was sort of the beginning of what was a 'Cinderella' story for me.

Chris Evert

#2. Every time, all the time, I'm a perfectionist. I feel I should never lose.

Chris Evert

#3. In tennis, at the end of the day you're a winner or a loser. You know exactly where you stand ... I don't need that anymore. I don't need my happiness, my well-being, to be based on winning and losing.

Chris Evert

#4. Find something that you're really interested in doing in your life. Pursue it, set goals, and commit yourself to excellence. Do the best you can.

Chris Evert

#5. The difference is almost all mental. The top players just hate to lose. I think that's the difference. A champion hates to lose even more than she loves to win.

Chris Evert

#6. Not every child is cut out for an individual sport.

Chris Evert

#7. After being at the top, I don't think I could play senior tournaments, because you know how good you were. I don't know if I would enjoy that, being half of what I was.

Chris Evert

#8. I'm not an overly ambitious person; I don't feel like I have to excel.

Chris Evert

#9. If you're a champion, you have to have it in your heart.

Chris Evert

#10. Relationships are give-and-take, and when you're a tennis player, you're certainly not giving. You have to be self-absorbed. It has to be about you.

Chris Evert

#11. I was labeled at a young age - Miss Unemotional, Miss Cool, and that would carry over to my press conferences.

Chris Evert

#12. You pay a price for everything in life.

Chris Evert

#13. Losses are always a relief. They take a burden off me, make me feel more normal. If I win several tournaments in a row I get so confident I'm in a cloud. If I lose I go back to the dressing room and I'm no better nor worse than anyone else. A loss gets me eager again.

Chris Evert

#14. There were times when deep down inside I wanted to win so badly I could actually will it to happen. I think most of my career has been based on desire.

Chris Evert

#15. You can't give up! If you give up, you're like everybody else.

Chris Evert

#16. You're always striving to play that perfect match.

Chris Evert

#17. When you're a famous, successful person at 16 years old, the rules change for you. Everybody is doing things for you to make life easier so you can go out and play. And I think you miss out on lot of growing up and a lot of reality checks.

Chris Evert

#18. To be a tennis champion, you have to be inflexible. You have to be stubborn. You have to be arrogant. You have to be selfish and self-absorbed. Kind of tunnel vision almost.

Chris Evert

#19. I've had a lot of fear in my life, from fear of flying to fear of making a speech in front of a lot of people.

Chris Evert

#20. I wanted always to appear strong and in control ... Then the cookie began to crumble.

Chris Evert

#21. I was very, very shy as a younger girl, just petrified of people.

Chris Evert

#22. If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life, and there's going to be a life after tennis that's a lot longer than your tennis life.

Chris Evert

#23. Being famous before you've formed your personality, before you have that self-esteem, is dangerous.

Chris Evert

#24. I still have this image: I can't be controversial, I can't say things.

Chris Evert

#25. If I win seven tournaments in a row, I get so confident I'm in a cloud. A loss gets me eager again.

Chris Evert

#26. Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift.

Chris Evert

#27. The great high of winning Wimbledon lasts for about a week. You go down in the record book, but you don't have anything tangible to hold on to. But having a baby
there isn't any comparison.

Chris Evert

#28. You've got to take the initiative to play your game. Confidence makes the difference.

Chris Evert

#29. Training the body to obey the mind as I have done differs from the more conventional method of getting the mind to obey the body.

Chris Evert

#30. I realized that with hard work, the world was your oyster. You could do anything you wanted to do.

Chris Evert

#31. Even though there are a lot of bright tennis players out there, you still have to protect yourself and save all your mental and emotional energies for tennis.

Chris Evert

#32. I always looked ahead.

Chris Evert

#33. I'm not getting within 20 feet of a married man ever again - not even talking to one!

Chris Evert

#34. Single-mindedness. I hate to say it because I don't think it's the best thing for developing a person, but the single-mindedness - just concentrating in the one area - that's what it takes to be a champion.

Chris Evert

#35. You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.

Chris Evert

#36. I love hiking in the mountains in Aspen. Breathing the clean, fresh air is great. Plus, it gives me a cardiovascular workout and firms my legs.

Chris Evert

#37. Of all my achievements in tennis, I'm probably as proud of my record on clay courts as any of my Wimbledon, U.S. Open or French singles titles.

Chris Evert

#38. Now that I'm losing some, I can see how tough I was
the killer instinct, the single-mindedness, playing like a machine. Boy, that's what made me a champion.

Chris Evert

#39. Tennis helped give me an identity and made me feel like somebody.

Chris Evert

#40. When I was younger, I was a robot. Wind her up and she plays tennis.

Chris Evert

#41. Losing hurts me. I was determined to be the best.

Chris Evert

#42. Ninety percent of my game is mental. It's my concentration that has gotten me this far.

Chris Evert

#43. Cats are peaceful and tranquil - they bring calmness with their serene personalities.

Chris Evert

#44. Whatever your goal in life, be proud of every day that you are able to work in that direction.

Chris Evert

#45. When I play, I'm boiling inside. I just try not to show it because it's a lack of composure, and if you give in to your emotions after one loss, you're liable to have three or four in a row.

Chris Evert

#46. I can definitely say the same thing [discussing Steffi Graf's claim that she had played against at least one top player who used steroids]. Steroids can really make a difference, physically and mentally. I'd be really disappointed if I had been ranked No. 2 behind someone who took steroids.

Chris Evert

#47. Once you've been number one, you can never be satisfied with less.

Chris Evert

#48. I think team sports probably teach you more about giving - about being unselfish and being flexible.

Chris Evert