‘He’s a Painter’ – When a Five-Year-Old Chris Evert Felt Embarrassed to Reveal Father’s Real Job

Chris Evert is remembered as one of the greatest players of all time. However, greatness is not innate but has to be honed every day by overcoming shortcomings and sometimes embarrassments too. Similar was the case with case Evert. Going back to her childhood, Evert learned tennis from her father, Jimmy Evert, who was also a professional tennis coach. However, having the brain of a child at that time, Evert didn’t approve of her father being a tennis coach.

At five years of age, she went as a spectator on the popular TV series, “The Skippers Chuck Show.” Enjoying the show, Evert suffered probably one of the biggest moments of embarrassment; when the host of the show placed the mic in front of her, wanting to know her father’s profession.

Chris Evert recalls an embarrassing moment

Being a five-year-old child, the incident didn’t get much spotlight back then. However, by 2010, Evert had become one of the most prominent tennis entities. Writing a column for ESPN, Evert went back in time, recalling the incident.

Giving a background of the incident, she started by saying, “The small studio audience was all kids, and there was a segment in which Skipper Chuck would ask them questions.”

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As mentioned earlier, Evert was initially enjoying the show. “It just so happened that on my lone appearance, the Skip put a microphone in front of me and asked my name and what my dad did for a living. I had no hesitation telling him my name was Chris Evert,” she said.

However, what was left was the second part of the answer. Giving a glance at Evert’s disapproval of her father being a tennis coach. It was needless to say that the second part was nothing short of a nightmare for the former World No. 1.

Recalling her thought process during that moment, Evert admitted, “I pulled up short, however, before revealing my father’s occupation.” Elaborating ahead, she further cleared the air by opening up about the reason for her embarrassment. “My dad was a tennis coach, and fifty years ago nobody’s dad was a tennis coach.” 

Evert admitted, “Childhood insecurity and embarrassment got the better of me. And I gave my dad what I felt was a more reputable line of work.” So, what profession did Evert say? “He’s a painter.”

Even though Evert felt embarrassed talking about her father’s profession, it was he who helped Evert dominate women’s tennis. At the end of her career, Evert had 21 Grand Slams and a whopping 260 weeks at World No. 1.