Remember when Andy Murray bid a tearful farewell after a heartbreaking 1st-round doubles exit at Wimbledon last year? That moment became even more emotional when Sue Barker, legendary presenter and 1976 French Open champion, conducted the interview that stirred hearts. Though she stepped down from her BBC role in 2022 this year, Barker made a surprising return to Wimbledon this year in a whole new capacity. Teaming up with Emirates Airlines, she took on the role of inspecting every corner of the hallowed grounds, ensuring the venue met top-tier standards before the tournament kicked off. Her comeback also follows the 2024 release of her acclaimed book ‘Wimbledon: A Personal History’, which unearthed countless tales, including one harrowing brush with death involving Chris Evert’s ex-husband, now resurfacing in headlines.

Among the countless stories Sue Barker recounted in her memoir “Wimbledon: A Personal History”, one gripping tale leaped straight off the pages, an astonishing near-death moment involving former UK great John Lloyd. Barker revealed that Lloyd, famously married to tennis legend Chris Evert for eight years, almost lost his life in the men’s locker room at Wimbledon after a brutal five-set loss to Phil Dent in 1976.

The moment came to light during Barker’s first-ever appearance at Wimbledon’s revered Last 8 Club, a secretive yet celebratory gathering that honors players who have reached the singles QF, doubles SF, or mixed doubles finals. “There are refreshments available all day, a six o’clock happy hour, and an annual dinner,” Barker wrote. “I discovered it attracts about 70 former players each year.”

That night, surrounded by tennis royalty: Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Christine Janes, Tracy Austin, Olga Morozova, Mark Woodforde, Jan Kodes, Peter Fleming, Fred Stolle, and Chris Lewis, Barker and Lloyd took the mic. “We had such a laugh at dinner,” she recalled. “John Lloyd and I both gave speeches, as did Chris. I told stories from my memoir Calling the Shots, and Lloydy, who is a great raconteur, told the tale of how he nearly died in the men’s locker room at Wimbledon after one cruel defeat.”

After enduring a grueling four-hour, five-set first-round loss to Phil Dent, an especially painful blow for a Brit tipped to shine, Lloyd did the exhaustive media rounds expected of home players back in the day. By the time he reached the locker room, it was nearly 9 pm and eerily deserted. “As he tells the story, he ran a deep, steaming hot bath,” Barker wrote. “He wallowed in it, going over in his mind all the crucial points of his match, angry that he had lost it.”

But what happened next stunned the dinner guests. As Lloyd reached for the soap, his body cramped, first his hand, then full-body paralysis. “’I was sliding down into the water. I was sinking. I was going to bloody well drown in the Wimbledon bath,’” Barker quoted him. But true to form, Lloyd turned the tale on its head. “It’s funny what goes through your mind at such moments,” he said. “My life should have been passing before my eyes, but my ego took over and I started to imagine the headlines in the newspapers the next day: British player commits suicide in bath after devastating loss.”

Luckily for Lloyd, fate had other plans. A former player returning from a Wimbledon cocktail party burst into the locker room, urgently needing the bathroom. The urinals were near the bath, and he spotted Lloyd’s distress just in time. He pulled him from the water, saving his life, and giving tennis fans a story for the ages.

Lloyd, who would go on to marry Chris Evert in 1979 and divorce her in 1987, endured more than just professional battles during that era. And while their relationship was high-profile and often in the spotlight, Evert has since courageously opened up about those complicated, often bitter days, proof that even tennis royalty aren’t immune to life’s toughest volleys.

Chris Evert opened up about her painful marriage to Lloyd

It was the summer of 1978 at Wimbledon when 2 tennis paths first collided, Chris Evert and John Lloyd. One year into their budding romance, the tennis couple sealed their bond with vows in 1979. But while love brought them together, the game and its grinding demands would slowly tear them apart. Though they were both professionals, their careers were cut from vastly different cloth. Evert soared to greatness, collecting 18 GS singles titles and cementing her legacy as one of the all-time legends. Lloyd, meanwhile, spent most of his career in the shadows, reaching just one GS final.

Despite the gap in accolades, it wasn’t the sport that broke them, it was the emotional weight behind the scenes. Evert once spoke candidly about the pain that came after the marriage crumbled. “I had never really gone through a lot of emotional crises,” she said. “I’ve never had anyone close to me die, for instance. And when you have a marriage that doesn’t work, there’s just so much stress. I knew I had to deal with it alone. Through pain, I think you grow.”

For Lloyd, the pressure to measure up to Evert’s iconic status became a burden too heavy to carry. The growing distance between them, both emotional and physical, eventually led to an inevitable separation.

Yet, through the heartache and hindsight, the former couple has held onto something rare in high-profile splits, mutual respect that still lingers long after the final match.