Chris Evert has established herself as a grade-A tennis commentator and pundit after her retirement. As part of the job profile, she may have made comments or given opinions that didn’t sit well with players and fans of the sport. In one interview with ESPN in 2007, Bonnie DeSimone asked Evert many questions about the sport. They discussed her opinions of the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the status of WTA players in 2007, and more. However, the readers were more interested in finding out about the comments she made about Serena Williams.

In 1999, Serena Williams surprised the world after she defeated Martina Hingis in the US Open final in straight sets. Only 17 at the time, Serena announced her arrival to the tennis world and showed a teaser of the decades of dominance she enjoyed until her retirement. However, between 2004-2006, Serena’s game suffered due to many injuries. In 2006, her injuries left her unable to play. She only ended up competing in 4 tournaments and was thrown out of the top 100.

Chris Evert on the negative mindset of Serena Williams

During her injury in 2006, her fans kept supporting her. They voiced out their wish for her to recover soon and play at her best. Similarly, Chris Evert wrote a letter to ESPN in 2006 pointing out the mindset of Serena. Evert stated that Serena had a great opportunity to become one of the best athletes of all time.

According to Chris Evert, the comments of her fans and her letter were words of encouragement. But Serena ended up taking them as criticism. The ‘Ice Maiden’, in her letter posted on ESPN, said that Serena’s outlook is on the wrong side. Her fans and Evert merely wished she would make the effort to be the player she was.

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“The only thing is, she keeps bringing up this ‘I’m going to show everybody’ thing because people were talking about her last year when she wasn’t playing.” She further went on to say, “The whole world saw her talent and personality. All they were saying is, ‘We believe in you and we believe in your game.’ She has taken that as a negative. I still hear quotes about what I wrote in my letter in Tennis Magazine.”

Evert made another comment about Serena’s mindset that stood out. She said, “Anyone who’s ever commented on Serena has done it out of frustration, hoping she could benefit from it and would benefit from it, trying to get her to think. Now she’s trying to get back at people. It’s like having been in a bad relationship. You have to move on.”

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One can safely assume that Serena did move on from such criticism, as she played her best after returning to top form in 2007. She took all the comments to heart and went on to win the Australian Open in 2007, ending the year as the world no.7.