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Throughout the history of tennis, different eras have been defined by their hallmark rivalries, whether it be Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal currently, Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi in the 1990s, or Jimmy Connors vs. John McEnroe in the 1970s and 1980s. Oftentimes, these great rivalries are characterized by their great contrasts; this was certainly the case with arguably the greatest women’s rivalry in tennis history between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Over the course of nearly twenty years, the All-American baseliner and the Czech-born serve and volley-er dominated the women’s game and each staked their claim to best women’s player ever (though Serena Williams has likely surpassed both in recent years) – even today, the debate rages on:
Who was better – Chris Evert or Martina Navratilova?
The Beginning
Time and time again, women’s tennis has seen players burst onto the scene and vault to stardom in their teens. In the early to mid-1970s, both Evert and Navratilova became top-five players before the ripe old age of 20 en route to two decades of dominance on the women’s tour.
Following a stellar junior career, Evert made her Grand Slam debut at age 14 at the 1971 US Open, and would make it all the way to the semifinals before falling to Billie Jean King. From that surprise run, she would quickly establish herself as one of the top women’s tennis players in the world – during the 1973 season, Evert compiled a 89-10 singles record, won 12 titles, reached the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon (losing to Hall of Famers Margaret Court and the aforementioned King, respectively), and finishing the year ranked #3 in the world.
Navratilova was a couple of years behind Evert – she started playing on the USTA Tour in 1973 and won her first tournament in 1974, but did not turn pro until 1975 at age 18. That year, she sought political asylum in the US from her native Czechoslovakia and was stripped of Czech citizenship (she would eventually become a US citizen, and later in 2008, reacquired Czech citizenship). On the court that year, she finished with an 86-21 singles record, four titles, and two Grand Slam finals appearances (losing to Evonne Goolagong at the Australian Open and Evert at the French Open) en route to a #3 year-end ranking. Meanwhile, on the doubles side, she had already won a French Open Mixed Doubles title with Ivan Molina in 1974 and would win the French Open Women’s Doubles title in 1975, ironically with Evert.
Career Comparison
From the mid-1970s onwards to the end of the 1980s, Evert and Navratilova alternated the #1 spot in women’s tennis and achieved a period of consistency and dominance atop the rankings that cemented their statuses as all-time tennis greats.
Following her breakthrough 1973 season, Evert reached even greater heights the following year – in 1974, she strung together a then-record 55-match consecutive win streak on the way to a 100-7 record with 16 titles and an unofficial year-end #1 ranking; in the Grand Slams, she won her first two titles at the French Open and Wimbledon, while losing in the Australian Open Finals and the semifinals of the US Open. With the WTA computer rankings being introduced in 1975, Evert would reign #1 for three consecutive years from 1975 to 1977. In each of those three years, she won at least 70 matches (94-6, 75-5, and 70-4, respectively) with 10+ titles (16, 12, and 11), including three straight US Opens and two Grand Slams each in both 1975 and 1976; moreover, in 1976, Evert won Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year, one of only four tennis players honored to-date (Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, and Serena Williams being the other three). During this time, Evert would also win her three Grand Slams titles in doubles – the 1974 French Open with Olga Morozova, the aforementioned 1975 French Open with Navratilova, and 1976 Wimbledon, also with Navratilova.
Though Evert ceded the #1 year-end ranking in 1978 and 1979 (to Navratilova), she would still win her fourth straight US Open and third overall French Open during that time before reclaiming her crown in 1980. During another two-year reign as the #1 player in the world, she went 70-5 with 8 titles in 1980 and 72-6 with 9 titles in 1981; in terms of Grand Slams, Evert won the French and US Opens again while being runner-up at Wimbledon in 1980, and then won Wimbledon in 1981.
Over the next five years, however, Navratilova would emerge as the clear-cut #1 women’s player (more on that shortly), with Evert playing second fiddle and finishing #2 every year. Nevertheless, Evert remained highly successful, winning 55+ matches and at least 6 tournaments every year while never losing more than eight matches in any season. Moreover, she added six additional Grand Slams to her hardware case, including both the US and Australian Opens in 1982 (the last time Evert would win multiple Grand Slams in a calendar year). In 1984, Evert accomplished the feat of making it to the finals of all four Grand Slams, winning the Australian Open vs. Helena Sukova, but losing the other three to Navratilova. In fact, in an incredible feat of consistency, Evert won at least one Grand Slam title for 13 straight years from 1974 to 1986. With her aggressive baseline style, clay was clearly her best surface – over the course of her career, she won a women’s record seven French Open titles (which has since been surpassed on the men’s side by Nadal), including her final Grand Slam title in 1986, and set a record of 125 consecutive wins on clay between August 1973 and May 1979. Overall, Evert remained a top player until her retirement in 1989, with her last Grand Slam Finals appearance coming at the 1988 Australian Open.
As mentioned, Navratilova’s career overlapped significantly with Evert’s, though her ascent to the top would begin a few years later. Though she was a top-five player in both 1976 and 1977, Navratilova did not win any Grand Slams during that stretch. Her real breakthrough came in 1978, when she compiled an 80-9 record with 11 titles, including her first Grand Slam win (Wimbledon), and finished the year #1 for the first of seven times. This would be followed by another year-end #1 season in 1979, as she went 88-12 with 10 titles and repeated as Wimbledon champion. However, the next couple of years, she would cede the #1 ranking to Evert once again, though still finished top-three each year.
In 1981, Navratilova began working with Hall of Fame basketball player Nancy Lieberman on her mental game and also adopted a new high-tech Yonex racquet, which helped propel her to new heights of dominance on the women’s tour. Starting in 1982, she would regain the year-end #1 ranking from Evert and stay there for five consecutive years – it was an unprecedented streak of greatness during which Navratilova would win at least 78 matches and lose no more than five matches each year with 12+ titles annually. Incredibly, between 1982 and 1984, she only lost six total matches, going 90-3 in 1982, an incredible 86-1 in 1983 (the closest to a perfect season ever) and 78-2 in 1984; during her near-perfect 1983 season, her only loss was a fourth round upset to Kathy Horvath at the French Open. During this timespan, Navratilova racked up 12 Grand Slam titles, including five consecutive Wimbledons and her first three US Open wins. Back then, the Australian Open was held in December, so starting with Wimbledon in 1983, she won six straight Grand Slam titles and held all four titles at the same time upon winning the 1984 French Open; she had the opportunity to win the 1984 Australian Open to complete the rare calendar-year “Grand Slam”, but lost in the semifinals to the aforementioned Sukova, which also ended Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak. Similarly, in 1985, Navratilova made the finals of all four Grand Slams, winning two (Wimbledon and the Australian Open).
By 1987, a young Steffi Graf (who would become a legend in her own right) would emerge and begin her reign as the best player in women’s tennis, though Navratilova remained a top-flight player, once again making it to all four Grand Slam Finals (and winning Wimbledon and the US Open) and finishing the year ranked #2. At the US Open that year, she won the title in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, thus joining Hall of Famers Margaret Smith Court and Billie Jean King as the only players to win this unique “Triple Crown” of tennis. With Graf clearly overtaking her by this point, Navratilova’s last Grand Slam title in singles came at Wimbledon in 1990 before she retired in 1994. In contrast to Evert, Navratilova’s serve-and-volley style made grass her best surface, as evidenced by a record nine Wimbledon singles titles.
Despite her retirement from singles, Navratilova returned to the WTA Tour to play doubles from 2000 to 2006. In fact, as the top-ranked doubles player for a record 237 weeks, including 181 consecutive weeks, with five year-end #1 rankings, she is also the greatest doubles player ever. During her career, Navratilova completed both the career “Grand Slam” in women’s doubles by winning the 1980 Australian Open and a calendar-year “Grand Slam” with partner Pam Shriver in her dominant 1984 season. Similarly, on the mixed doubles front, Navratilova completed the career “Grand Slam” by winning the 2003 Australian Open – thus, by winning career “Grand Slams” in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, Navratilova was only the second player (after Court) to complete the extremely rare “Career Boxed Set”.
Overall, Navratilova played singles for four more years than Evert and that longevity is reflected in her career numbers – she has more career matches won (1,444 to 1,309), titles (167 to 157), and weeks at #1/number of year-end #1 rankings (332 to 260 and 7x to 5x, respectively). However, Evert has the better career winning percentage (90.0% to 86.4%) and the two are tied with 18 singles Grand Slam titles each, though had greater success on different surfaces – 13 of Evert’s 18 titles were at the French and US Opens, while half of Navratilova’s titles came at Wimbledon. When you factor in doubles, Navratilova has a clear edge, with an astounding 31 Grand Slam doubles titles and 10 mixed titles to Evert’s 3 doubles titles. It should come as no surprise that both players were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame when they first became eligible, Evert in 1995 and Navratilova in 2000 (though as mentioned, Navratilova returned to the pros to play doubles and mixed events after her enshrinement).
Career Statistics
| Chris Evert | Player | Martina Navratilova |
| 18 (1972-1989) | Primary Years | 22 (1973-1994) |
| 1,309-146 (90.0%) | Singles W-L Record | 1,444-227 (86.4%) |
| 157 | Singles Titles | 167 |
| 260 | Weeks at #1 | 332 |
| 5x | Year-End #1 | 7x |
| 32 | Doubles Titles | 177 |
| 21x (18x / 3x / -) | Grand Slam Titles (Singles / Doubles / Mixed) | 59x (18x / 31x / 10x) |
| 2x (2x / – / -) | Australian Open Titles | 12x (3x / 8x / 1x) |
| 9x (7x / 2x / -) | French Open Titles | 11x (2x / 7x / 2x) |
| 4x (3x / 1x / -) | Wimbledon Titles | 20x (9x / 7x / 4x) |
| 6x (6x / – / -) | US Open Titles | 16x (4x / 9x / 3x) |
| 1995 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2000 |
Source: Wikipedia.org, International Tennis Hall of Fame, ChrisEvert.net
Between 1973 and 1988, Evert and Navratilova played each other 80 times, including in 14 Grand Slam finals, with Navratilova holding both a 43-37 overall lead and a 10-4 edge in Grand Slam finals. Evert began the rivalry with the upper hand, racing out to a 30-18 lead, including their first Grand Slam finals meeting at the 1975 French Open, which Evert won 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Meanwhile, Navratilova’s first career Grand Slam win came at Wimbledon in 1978, where she beat Evert 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The turning point in their rivalry was the WTA Finals in April 1981, where Evert won 6-0, 6-0 to hand Navratilova the only double-bagel loss of her career. However, with her newfound mental toughness and racquet technology, Navratilova would roar back with 13 straight wins during her 1982-1986 peak; with the head-to-head matchup tied at 30 wins apiece, the two would meet in the 1984 US Open finals, where Navratilova prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Furthermore, the 1985 French Open final is considered one of the finest women’s matches of all-time, with Evert winning this time 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5. All in all, between Evert and Navratilova, they won all 15 Grand Slam tournaments between the 1981 Australian Open and 1985 Wimbledon, and 21 out of 24 thru the 1987 US Open; moreover, all 24 Grand Slam finals during this span included at least one of them and in both 1984 and 1985, the duo met in three of the four Grand Slam finals that year.
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; while both Evert and Navratilova were top players for essentially their entire careers, each clearly had a stretch of peak play in the 1970s and 1980s roughly half a decade apart. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Chris Evert | Player | Martina Navratilova |
| 1974-1983 | Decade of Dominance | 1978-1987 |
| 761-65 (92.1%) | Singles W-L Record | 823-70 (92.2%) |
| 103 | Singles Titles | 116 |
| 260 | Weeks at #1 | 332 |
| 5x | Year-End #1 | 7x |
| 18x (15x / 3x / -) | Grand Slam Titles (Singles / Doubles / Mixed) | 44x (17x / 23x / 4x) |
| 1x (1x / – / -) | Australian Open Titles | 9x (3x / 6x / -) |
| 7x (5x / 2x / -) | French Open Titles | 8x (2x / 5x / 1x) |
| 4x (3x / 1x / -) | Wimbledon Titles | 15x (8x / 6x / 1x) |
| 6x (6x / – / -) | US Open Titles | 12x (4x / 6x / 2x) |
Source: Wikipedia.org, International Tennis Hall of Fame, ChrisEvert.net
Across their respective decades of dominance, the general trends are the same in favor of Navratilova. Perhaps speaking to Evert’s greater consistency across her career, in this view, Navratilova has the slightly better winning percentage and more singles Grand Slam titles. Moreover, the fact that Navratilova won 15 Grand Slam doubles and mixed titles outside of her decade-long peak speaks to her prowess as a doubles player even when not in her prime.
My Thoughts
It can be argued that the Evert-Navratilova matchup is the greatest rivalry in tennis history (right up there with the likes of Federer-Nadal), and certainly on the women’s side, it stands the test of time; interestingly, despite their fierce on-court rivalry and strong contrasts in their games and personalities, the two were and continue to be close friends. In comparing the duo and deciding on who was better, I think the answer is relatively clear – against almost any other player in women’s tennis history (save for a handful of legends like Steffi Graf and Serena Williams), Evert would compare favorably and come out clearly ahead, but Navratilova was just a little better at her zenith (e.g. 1983), won the head-to-head matchup vs. Evert, and was far and away the superior doubles player (in fact, I would consider her the greatest overall player in tennis history across singles and doubles, man or woman).
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Martina Navratilova
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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