After an illustrious tennis career, Chris Evert is among the top tennis analysts today. The 18-time Grand Slam champion will go down as one of the greatest in the history of the game. While many may think tennis was in her blood, the 65-year-old once revealed that her father pushed her for it. She also revealed an interesting reason because of which her father did so.

Here’s what Evert said about her father’s motive behind making her pursue tennis.

Why Evert’s father made her a tennis player?

Remembering the time when Evert asked her father about the reason for pushing her into tennis, the 67-year-old recited her father’s response.

“To keep you kids off the streets,” Evert’s father said.

Evert chuckled and added, “What, did he think, that I was going to join a gang or something?” Speaking further, the legend said, “But as I got older I, he got smarter in my eyes. Idle time is not good for kids, especially in this day and age. You have to keep them busy in a positive way.”

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Evert spent most of her teenage playing tennis and made her Grand Slam debut playing in the 1971  US Open, aged only 16.

Chris Evert fights for equality

Apart from her tennis prowess, the 67-year-old has always remained vocal about the rights and equality of women. She has always been critical of the unequal pay for men’s and women’s tennis players in the tournaments. Recently, she recently raised the concern yet again, targeting the organizers.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion said that apart from the Grand Slam events, the existing disparity showcases the mentality of organizers. Further, she doubted that any men’s tennis player will raise the issue as they will have to come down in their prize money to accommodate equal pay for women. Further, she said that it will take a lot of compromise from the men’s side to make this happen.

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The demand for equal pay is not new. Earlier, American tennis star Venus Williams went up against the Wimbledon organizers to bring the reforms, at least for the Grand Slam tournaments. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments.