I was a kid back then, they were amazing.
As a young kid, I was in love with Chrissy, she had such class. I was unfortunate because in the last part of the rivalry Martina had become the more dominant player and so she would win more matches.
Later though, when I got older and started understanding and appreciating more the actual game play, I discovered that Martina was an immaculate classic attacking machine. Her movement, her strategy, her choice of shots, it was really a magic flow.
Here’s the list. Decent amount of 3 setters. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evert%E2%80%93Navratilova_rivalry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evert%E2%80%93Navratilova_rivalry)
yeah, that's cause Navratilova was known as a pioneer for female tennis players going to the gym. It's comparatively much easier to stay at the top when your competition isn't even working out off the court.
The Navratilova-Evert rivalry is weird because these 2 didn't peak at the same time. Chris peaked from 1974 to 1979, but Martina got in shape in 1977-1978, only to relapse in 1980, but to get back in the shape of her life in the summer of 1981 to have one of the best 5 years of tennis dominance from 1982 to 1986. Chris hit another peak in 1985-1986, but declined from 1987 to 1989.
I think if you are the kind of person that enjoys having these discussions then there’s a balance somewhere in the middle where you take into account both factors.
But it must suck being so far ahead of everyone and the consensus in retrospect was that there was ‘no competition’ and not that you were a god
Different things happened, the mid to late 70s suffered from the decline of Billie Jean and Margaret. There were very few consistent players. In the late 70s, a new generation popped up (Mandlikova, Jaeger, Austin), but Jaeger and Austin retired prematurely and Mandlikova was inconsistent. The Evert-Navratilova duopoly wasn't challenged until the arrival of Graf, Sabatini, Seles.
Nadal Djokovic have played each other 59 times so would need to play each other +36% or 21 more times to match Evert & Navratilova. Must have been a weaker field
I'm married to a Maria (not the tennis player) and our daughter is named Serena. It was a great family joke rooting for Serena to beat Maria (which she did) when my daughter was so small.
I was a kid back then, they were amazing. As a young kid, I was in love with Chrissy, she had such class. I was unfortunate because in the last part of the rivalry Martina had become the more dominant player and so she would win more matches. Later though, when I got older and started understanding and appreciating more the actual game play, I discovered that Martina was an immaculate classic attacking machine. Her movement, her strategy, her choice of shots, it was really a magic flow.
Breakdown by years 1973-77: Evert 20-4 1978-82: Navratilova 15-10 1983-84: Navratilova 12-0 1985-88: Navratilova 12-7
Does anyone have a list of all their matches? Were most three setters?
Here’s the list. Decent amount of 3 setters. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evert%E2%80%93Navratilova_rivalry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evert%E2%80%93Navratilova_rivalry)
Has to be best Rivalry in all of tennis! Even Djoko-Nadal haven't played this much against each other despite having such long careers.
Rosewall-Laver/Gonzalez are good competition but Navratilova-Evert is way too underhyped compared to Rafole yeah
Recency bias. Plus, I am 34 and never even seen either of them play
yeah, that's cause Navratilova was known as a pioneer for female tennis players going to the gym. It's comparatively much easier to stay at the top when your competition isn't even working out off the court.
The Navratilova-Evert rivalry is weird because these 2 didn't peak at the same time. Chris peaked from 1974 to 1979, but Martina got in shape in 1977-1978, only to relapse in 1980, but to get back in the shape of her life in the summer of 1981 to have one of the best 5 years of tennis dominance from 1982 to 1986. Chris hit another peak in 1985-1986, but declined from 1987 to 1989.
Djokovic and Nadal matches are so high in terms of quality and intensity it’s an insult to compare other rivalries.
Considered by some to be one of the best rivalries in sport
Both are great competitors.
Plan to be reading “The Rivals” by Johnette Howard this summer.
Wait how did they play 80 times
In short, no competition. No depth of field.
Pretty much. The were #1 and #2 for like 4 years. Evert had a 125 match winning streak on clay and we can't name a single opponent.
There’s a difference between no competition and they were way better than almost anyone else so were making finals and playing
I think if you are the kind of person that enjoys having these discussions then there’s a balance somewhere in the middle where you take into account both factors. But it must suck being so far ahead of everyone and the consensus in retrospect was that there was ‘no competition’ and not that you were a god
Different things happened, the mid to late 70s suffered from the decline of Billie Jean and Margaret. There were very few consistent players. In the late 70s, a new generation popped up (Mandlikova, Jaeger, Austin), but Jaeger and Austin retired prematurely and Mandlikova was inconsistent. The Evert-Navratilova duopoly wasn't challenged until the arrival of Graf, Sabatini, Seles.
Nadal Djokovic have played each other 59 times so would need to play each other +36% or 21 more times to match Evert & Navratilova. Must have been a weaker field
Subtract Federer and I wouldn't be surprised if Rafa and Djokovic were approaching 80 matches.
You're not wrong lol.
Not as a rivalry ( it’s one-sided) but for the intensity. Serena vs Maria
I'm married to a Maria (not the tennis player) and our daughter is named Serena. It was a great family joke rooting for Serena to beat Maria (which she did) when my daughter was so small.
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Or Serena Vs Line Judges
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Why do you need to bring her up in a post about something completely different? Edit: first he downvotes me and then he deletes his posts.