Hey guys & gals,
I treated myself to this book at Christmas and I have to say it is a fantastic account of their rivalry and friendship. I grew up in their era and was, and still am, a huge Chrissie fan but also a fan of Martina's. I could hardly put the book down and am still slightly depressed at having finished it. The anecdotes from each of them, the contributions from every major contemporary they had and the detail involved in the description of a lot of their matches all make what has now become the best read I've had since "Ali". Seriously recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the 2 of them. Just thought I'd share that :bow: :bow:

What is the name of the book Roy?

I'm guessing the same title as the thread?

Evert vs Navratilova-The Rivals.

Thanks Roysie, I will read that :D

Best rivalry in women;s tennis EVER, no question. I remember their matches at Wimby. always suspense and anticipation with 2 contrasting styles and attitudes. Nav was my fave but I have utmost respect for Chrissie the 'Ice Queen". It was liek Mac an Borg to the women's game. :bow:

I reckon along with Graf, they're two of the three greatest female players ever.

Interestingly Navratilova leads the h2h 43-37, but they played each other overwhelmingly on fast surfaces eg 40 times on grass & indoors, which obviously suited Navratilova. Apparently Navratilova did not play Evert between 1975-81 on clay (with the exception of the U.S. Open) after being thrashed by evert in a few finals on clay. This makes the head to head slightly distorted in Martina's favour.
They also changed the US Open surface from clay to hard and refined it to speed it up-giving the edge to Martina in the 80's, the Austrailan was still grass, so the surfaces of three slams then suited Martina, whereas it had previously been 2 clay, 2 grass. This period coincides with Martina's dominance.

I think the greatest rivalry in tennis, partly because of the amount of times they played, but also the contrast in styles. I think i'm right in saying they've got a great deal of respect and admiration for each other which is great.

Thanks for that Roysie. Chrissie is my fave female player ever, so will check the book out. :-)