Plus ca change... (3)

[bronze_ribbons]

More from Howard's The Rivals:

If Evert had one middling gripe about the way in which she was regarded, it was her belief that her career-long consistency became undervalued, even forgotten, as Navratilova began winning. ..."You have to have an arrogance to maintain a high level of confidence, and most of the time I kept it inside," Evert said. "But boy, it was there. You know you're better than the other players because there are so many times you're down in the third set and you don't get worried. You still know you're going to win. That's true arrogance."

* * *

Navratilova and Evert were ranked number one and two in the world and meeting only on Sundays now, for titles. The gap between them and the rest of the tour had become so pronounced, even Pam Shriver, a perennial top five player, spoke with poignant resignation about the "hopeless feeling of chasing two opponents you never, ever draw any closer to."

"That's what Chris and Martina do to the rest of us, those of us who never fulfill expectations and who begin to doubt that we ever will," Shriver said. "I try to defend myself, uphold women's tennis and say that the other players aren't that far behind, when, in fact -- at least in the majors -- we're light-years behind. No one likes to admit she doesn't have a serious chance."

* * *

Evert's loss [to Kathy Jordan in the third round of Wimbledon 1983] ended one of the most amazing streaks in sports. Starting with her sensational 1971 U.S. Open debut as a sixteen-year-old, Evert had never failed to reach the semifinals of the first thirty-four Grand Slam tournaments she had played -- a peerless run that stretched back twelve years.