Plus ca change... (2)

[bronze_ribbons]

Evert and Navratilova's ability to forge and maintain a friendship during sixteen years of often cutthroat competition has always provoked admiration and curiosity. At the start of their respective careers, both of them set out to be the best. But what each of them found was that the closer they got to their goal, the more they began to question what it took to get there, and to stay there.

Therein lies one of the abiding mysteries about Navratilova and Evert: How could two such supremely determined athletes indulge in niceties such as sharing bagels an hour before taking the court to compete for one of tennis's biggest titles? And then, the match over, how could they return to the locker room together with the winner often consoling the heartbroken loser?

The answer is at the core of understanding Evert and Navratilova's remarkable story: They were two people who fervently wanted the same thing, found the other blocking the way, and ultimately forgave each other for it. They were bound by their athletic superiority. They were operating so far above everyone else on tour, needing to fear only each other, and they realized that they were the only two people who really, truly understood what the other was going through.

- Johnette Howard, The Rivals: Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova: Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship (Broadway Books, 2005)