Devoted mother. Sports icon. Savvy businesswoman. Dedicated altruist. It’s impossible to stick a single label on Chris Evert. Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, the much-televised tennis champion with the blond hair and girl-next-door looks picked up a racquet at age 5 and by 13 was competing in regional and national women’s tennis tournaments before turning pro on her 18th birthday. During her 17-year career, Chris “Chrissie” Evert would become America’s Sweetheart, winning an impressive 18 Grand Slam titles (three Wimbledons, seven French Opens, two Australian Opens and six US Opens). After years of traveling, training and competing, Evert retired in 1989 at age 34 to have a family and has spent the last two decades in Boca Raton raising her sons, Alexander James, 20, Nicholas Joseph, 17, and Colton Jack, 15. Now, at 56, she’s dealing with a partial empty nest—one boy is in college, another is going soon, and a third is in 10th grade. “This period has been a time of discovery and growth for me,” says Evert, who is thrice divorced. “I’m not just a tennis champ, not just a businesswoman, not just a mother. I am all of those things. I have spent time alone and have grown from it.”
BALANCING ACT While she explains she’ll always put family first, Evert is ready to take on some new challenges. “I can now spread my wings and do other things I love,” she says. “I’ve had enough time to think and recharge, and I agree with what Gwyneth Paltrow
Glam
Slam said about finding what you love in life and making yourself happy as an individual.”
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those T h e B oFor c aher, R at o nthings Ob sinclude e r v e rcoaching tennis, commentating on TV, conducting business and promoting charitable causes. Bustling with activity, Evert says life is exactly what it should be. She’s excited to be the lead tennis anchor for ESPN TV
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T h e B o c a R at o n Ob s e r v e r
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Written By Emily Hall Photography by Tom DiPace
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Tennis Phenom Chris Evert May Be America’s Sweetheart, But In Boca Raton She’s Still The Girl Next Door