Evert's really ridiculous clay record

According to Evert's wiki entry "On clay courts her career winning percentage in singles matches of 94.05% (316–20) remains a WTA record."

"Beginning in August 1973, she won 125 consecutive matches on the surface, with a loss of only 8 sets" 8 SETS??!!

then after losing to Tracy Austin "Evert rebounded with another clay court streak that reached 64 matches "

1989 (Losses - 2)

Geneva - R16 Loss Barbara Paulus (AUT) 34 6-4 () 6-1 ()
Houston - F Loss Monica Seles (USA) 0 3-6 () 6-1 () 6-4 ()

1988 (Losses - 1)

RG - R32 Loss Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (ESP) 22 6-1 () 7-6 (4)

1987 (Losses - 2)

RG - S Loss [1] Martina Navratilova (USA) 0 6-2 () 6-2 ()
Hilton Head - S Loss [6] Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI) 0 6-1 () 2-6 () 7-6 (5)

1986 (Losses - 2)

Fed Cup - R3 Loss Sandra Cecchini (ITA) 0 3-6 () 6-4 () 6-3 ()
Hilton Head - F Loss [3] Steffi Graf (GER) 0 6-4 () 7-5 ()

1985 (Losses - 1)

Amelia Island - F Loss [4] Zina Garrison (USA) 0 6-4 () 6-3 ()

1984 (Losses - 3)

RG - F Loss [1] Martina Navratilova (USA) 0 6-3 () 6-1 ()
Perugia - F Loss [5] Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI) 0 6-3 () 6-3 ()
Amelia Island - F Loss [1] Martina Navratilova (USA) 0 6-2 () 6-0 ()

1982 (Losses - 2)

RG - S Loss [4] Andrea Jaeger (USA) 0 6-0 () 6-3 ()
Hilton Head - S Loss [3] Andrea Jaeger (USA) 0 6-1 () 1-6 () 6-2 ()

1981 (Losses - 1)

RG - S Loss [4] Hana Mandlikova (AUS) 0 7-5 () 6-4 ()

Cannot find 1979-80 on wtatennis.com.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Evert_career_statistics#Evert.27s_125-Match_Clay_Court_Winning_Streak_from_August_1973_to_May_1979

Wow that's crazy!

She lost just 20 matches on clay in her whole career

Won 7 FO's despite skipping '76-'78 to play in Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis.

Sue Barker is probably glad that she did!

An amazing record.

She's got more slams than Roger too...

But was it a strong era?

She's better than Rafa and Roger combined. And prettier!

Interesting stuff. I think some of the top women get a poor deal sometimes on this forum because it's always assumed that lack of strength in depth means they are all (largely) second rate.

Navratilova vs. Evert is right up there with the like of Sampras vs. Agassi, McEnroe vs. Borg, Nadal vs. Federer and any other male pairing you care to offer.

JuliusHMarx wrote:She's better than Rafa and Roger combined. And prettier!

How many Edberg awards did she get?

Now I MUST look for the missing time window of 1979-80 somehow.

laverfan wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:She's better than Rafa and Roger combined. And prettier!

How many Edberg awards did she get?

Not enough! I remember watching a rerun of a match where she played and looked like she had the 'flu or something. She lost and the press kept asking her about her health and she wouldn't comment. She just said that she was well enough to play but her opponent played better or something like that anyway. A real class act

She had a certain something for sure. A young bogbrush would get quite excited at her aloof charms......

bogbrush she was last heard of running a tennis academy in Florida. Maybe she can sign you up for some lessons?

Played with the best racquet of all time too!

I'm guessing that's the Dunlop Maxply or the Slazenger Challenge?

newballs wrote:bogbrush she was last heard of running a tennis academy in Florida. Maybe she can sign you up for some lessons?

We're both past our best, in some ways....

carrieg4 wrote:

laverfan wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:She's better than Rafa and Roger combined. And prettier!

How many Edberg awards did she get?

Not enough! I remember watching a rerun of a match where she played and looked like she had the 'flu or something. She lost and the press kept asking her about her health and she wouldn't comment. She just said that she was well enough to play but her opponent played better or something like that anyway. A real class act

Absolutely agree. Connors, with his brashness, was diametrically opposite to her personality, and to imagine they were together for some time.

laverfan wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:

laverfan wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:She's better than Rafa and Roger combined. And prettier!

How many Edberg awards did she get?

Not enough! I remember watching a rerun of a match where she played and looked like she had the 'flu or something. She lost and the press kept asking her about her health and she wouldn't comment. She just said that she was well enough to play but her opponent played better or something like that anyway. A real class act

Absolutely agree. Connors, with his brashness, was diametrically opposite to her personality, and to imagine they were together for some time.

Jimmy Connors and John Lloyd!?!?! I hope her taste in men has improved

carrieg4 wrote:Jimmy Connors and John Lloyd!?!?! I hope her taste in men has improved

What is your opinion of Greg Norman (the Shark)?

laverfan wrote:

carrieg4 wrote:Jimmy Connors and John Lloyd!?!?! I hope her taste in men has improved

What is your opinion of Greg Norman (the Shark)?

Not really a golf follower - he is better looking than the other two though! Looking at his wikipedia entry he has been with both Sue Barker and Chris Evert, obviously got a thing for the tennis girls. Bet he has that poster on his wall.

ProStaff6.0 85... JHM
Lord knows how many slams that racquet has won...Evert, Sampras, Edberg, Courier, Pierce to name a few...
Federer also developed his career on it and played with it until around 2002 as this picture showed before he had it bored out to 90 sq.in...and still plays with it now even though its painted all white and red. He's pretty much the last of the Wilson PS6.0 gneration...the heavy racquet wielders.

lydian wrote:ProStaff6.0 85... JHM
Lord knows how many slams that racquet has won...Evert, Sampras, Edberg, Courier, Pierce to name a few...
Federer also developed his career on it and played with it until around 2002 as this picture showed before he had it bored out to 90 sq.in...and still plays with it now even though its painted all white and red. He's pretty much the last of the Wilson PS6.0 gneration...the heavy racquet wielders.

I thought you meant her wooden racket - which was apparently also a Wilson.

Fair comment JHM, she played with wood till around 82/83. Infact she's the very last player to win a slam with wood...RG1983. Mac is last guy...USO81.

There is a lot of secrecy around the racquet Fed uses...it's a custom mould, some think PS6.0 modified, other the K Series. Either way he's the only guy who uses that racquet spec. Just like Sampras who only used St Vincent made PS6.0's (they were stiffer than other 6.0 factories)...infact he bought all their frames, and had the handles modified, then strung to 75lbs gut! 75! It's hard to believe the amount of power he would have got with a modern racquet and string set-up ala Raonic who strings at 40-44 lbs on Luxilon - that's cheating for power!! With the old set ups you needed prodigous timing to extract every last mph...modern racquets are breeding lazy technique. It's a shame to see the old fast court guys with their precision made tools and exacting technique fade into the past in the face of blunt, racquet driven power.

But Lydian, that is the evolution of the sport, whether we like it or not. Also, theer are not that many fast courts left.

Wow 40 pounds that is really ridiculous, I string at 58 used to string 60 even, I am thinking about going lighter though. I can't believe Sampras at 75 pounds wow, that explains how he could spot that second serve like that but that really cuts down on your power. I am surprised with the racquet head spead, no luxis, and with that kind of tight pressure he didn't snap strings in every service game.

lydian wrote:Fair comment JHM, she played with wood till around 82/83. Infact she's the very last player to win a slam with wood...RG1983. Mac is last guy...USO81.

There is a lot of secrecy around the racquet Fed uses...it's a custom mould, some think PS6.0 modified, other the K Series. Either way he's the only guy who uses that racquet spec. Just like Sampras who only used St Vincent made PS6.0's (they were stiffer than other 6.0 factories)...infact he bought all their frames, and had the handles modified, then strung to 75lbs gut! 75! It's hard to believe the amount of power he would have got with a modern racquet and string set-up ala Raonic who strings at 40-44 lbs on Luxilon - that's cheating for power!! With the old set ups you needed prodigous timing to extract every last mph...modern racquets are breeding lazy technique. It's a shame to see the old fast court guys with their precision made tools and exacting technique fade into the past in the face of blunt, racquet driven power.

It's funny to think that this standard of analysis never appears on TV. On there, it's as if the equipment has never changed and the guys are just much better than they were those few years ago.

I always think the only point of punditry is to tell people stuff they'd not know otherwise. I am so out of my time, it's now just to emote and opine.

emancipator wrote:Wow that's crazy!

She lost just 20 matches on clay in her whole career

Yeah it is insane. Just from a Wins-Losses point of view, you still have to go out and win your matches no matter who they're against. That said, Evert's 125-match streak took place in an era when hard courts were almost non existent. Three of the four Majors up to 1975 were played on grass, and this forced a number of players to utilize Serve-Volley tactics that worked extremely well on grass but were almost a hinderance on clay. Evert had a lot more time on clay to line up her passes against a ton of players who were coming into the net and giving her the target. Giving Evert time to pass someone standing at the net is the very reason she went 125 matches on clay without losing. She just didn't miss passing shots. It took someone who did what Evert could do only do it a little bit better - Tracy Austin - to end Evert's astounding clay court streak.

Also, Open Tennis - by the time Evert's streak was over in 1979 - was barely a decade old by then. The sheer number of players making their living off their tennis now as opposed to then is staggering. China, Japan, and a host of other nations didn't have tennis players on either tour then, and especially on the WTA Tour. Evert's era wasn't necessarily weaker than today. But it was definitely much smaller than today. Evert in 1971 was 16 when she was the phenomena whiz kid against a bunch of older tigresses who were the best in the world then and who'd been playing heavily since the pre-Open Era 1960's: Court, King, Casals, Wade, Bueno, Jones, Durr, etc. Evert's timing of her career ascent was near perfect. Had she started her career at the end of the 70's as opposed to the beginning of the 70's, she'd have won a lot less than she did.

But the women's game on clay courts must have been weak in terms of depth, if someone like Sue Barker can will the French Open at Roland Garros in 1976.

In 1976 some of the top players (like Evert) didn't play the FO

JuliusHMarx wrote:In 1976 some of the top players (like Evert) didn't play the FO

Well which top players did then as I really can't imagine someone like Sue Barker who was the women's 1970's equivalent of Tim Henman getting close to winning a Grand Slam Major Title.

There are some pretty good names in here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_Singles

laverfan wrote:There are some pretty good names in here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_Singles

What good names ? Renata Tomanová - the Stanislav Wawrinka of Czechoslovakian Women's Tennis in the 1970's?

The world No. 1 (Connors) was also absent in the mens FO for the first 3 or 4 of Borg's wins.

gboycottnut wrote:

laverfan wrote:There are some pretty good names in here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_Singles

What good names ? Renata Tomanová - the Stanislav Wawrinka of Czechoslovakian Women's Tennis in the 1970's?

Mihai, Ruzici, Jausovec, Turnbull, Bueno, Simionescu. . You may want to lookup their respective careers.

Barker was actually the No 1 seed at 1976 French Open and her opponent in final the No 2 - so they were the best of whomever played in that year. ALOT of peeps were otherwise engaged or banned. I mean Navratilova v Evert in 1975, to Barker v Tomanova in 1976.