Fort Lauderdale's own, Chris Evert, is an icon for the US Open

Sep
04

Welcome back to the Celebrity series on the first Monday of the month. Hope you had a great Labor day. Watch any tennis on TV yesterday? The US Open is currently going on at Flushing Meadows, New York and is getting pretty captivating. Our very own Serena and Venus Williams are doing well and still going. The excitement is building for a great final in both women's and men's tennis this year. I hate that James Blake lost again. He is so exciting to watch. I hope one day he will go all the way. He seems to get stuck just outside of the semi's all the time. Those Williams sisters rock though! I love Serena's hair cut. It seems so sassy. But do you remember the days when Fort Lauderdale's own Chris Evert was on top of the tennis world?

Christine Marie Evert was the teenage "bell of the ball" in the 70's. Born December 21, 1954 in our fair city, Fort Lauderdale, she learned to play tennis right here in Fort Lauderdale with her father and turned professional in the tennis world in 1972. At the age of 16 she found herself in the Semifinals of the US Open but lost to top player, Billie Jean. She was not only famous for her on court playing and her double handed backhand but she was also well known for her romance with Jimmie Connors from 1972-1974. Everybody of age in the 70's remembers the famous Connors/McEnroe rivalry as well as the engaging Navratilova/Evert rivalry. Chris Evert met Martina Navratilova 80 times over the years and we all loved to watch them battle it out. Navratilova edged out "Chrissie" 43-37.

Chris Evert was well known for her calm and collected demeanor on the court which earned her the nickname the "Ice princess' and the "Ice Maiden". Off court, she won everyone's heart as a the sweetheart of the tennis courts. Her tennis resume includes 157 singles titles and 18 Grand Slams:

3 Wimbledons
7 French Opens
2 Australian Opens
6 US Opens

She married British tennis player John Lloyd in 1979 and played under the name Chris Evert-Lloyd until 1987. In 1988, she married Olympic downhill skier, Andy Mill. They have 3 boys. Chris and Andy divorced in 18 years later in 2006.

Currently, she lives in Boca Raton and enjoys running the Chris Evert Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic. The local tennis tournament is hosted at both the Delray Beach Tennis Center and the Boca Raton Resort & Club. 2007 participants include:

Chrissie Evert
Jim Courier
Murphy Jensen
Luke Jensen
Scott Foley
Candace Cameron
Maeve Quinlan
Anna Kournikova
President George W. H. Bush
Jon Lovitz
Bud Collins
Greg Norman

We are so proud of her demeanor on the court and how she represented both Fort Lauderdale and tennis for all these years.

To rent or buy real estate? That is the question...
Upcoming events in Broward County and the surrounding areas
Flagler Village is the latest up and coming neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale
Investing in Real Estate in Fort lauderdale just got better
What's up with all this talk about location in the Real Estate world?