Chris Evert is one of the best tennis players of all time, and shared one of the sport’s most legendary rivalries with Martina Navratilova.
Together, they won a combined 36 singles major titles in a period of dominance the likes of which we have seldom seen before.
However, when Serena Williams came along, she engineered a one-woman reign of terror to rival this legendary duopoly.
Fans will always argue over who they think deserves to be labelled as the greatest tennis player of all time, with Evert actually picking her male GOAT as recently as 2021.
But, when asked to pick her female alternative in 2018, she had one word to describe the debate: ‘ridiculous’.
When Chris Evert shut down Serena Williams comparisons
Speaking to CBS Sport over eight years ago now, Evert began by admitting that she saw Serena as the greatest.
The 71-year-old claimed: “Of course, Serena is the best ever. A case can be made, but it’s really ridiculous. We were the best in our era. Serena is the best in her era.
What would happen if Serena Williams played Aryna Sabalenka in 2025?
“I think it’s apples and oranges.
“The one thing you can say is that Serena [Williams] is the best tennis player that we’ve seen, but up until my era and Martina’s [Navratilova] era, Steffi’s [Stefanie Graf] era, that was true as well. The standards get higher and higher.”
Ironically, Evert actually compared Carlos Alcaraz to Navratilova just last year, but only stylistically rather than their respective achievements.
Why it is impossible to compare tennis generations
In a similar way that it’s impossible to compare Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to the Big Three, this comparison between Evert’s generation and Serena’s is even more ludicrous.
After all, the developments made with each new season are stark, and stacking them upon one another creates a complete shift that arguably transforms the sport.
If Serena Williams isn’t the greatest tennis player of all time, then who is and why?
The rackets, surfaces, nutrition and physical preparation for the sport have transformed dramatically from before the Open Era, to during Navratilova and Evert’s prime, to Serena’s golden years, and now to Alcaraz’s generation.
People will always debate who is the greatest player of all time, and the fact that Margaret Court and Novak Djokovic continue to be the benchmark for their 24 major titles only emphasises the ludicrous nature of it all.
Court operated from 1960 to 1977, but eight of those years were before the Open Era had begun. To compare that with the Serbian superstar, who existed in an era around 30 years later and faced wholly different challenges, is, as Evert puts it, ‘ridiculous’.
