Chris Evert admits she made a mess out of her personal life, said Liz Clarke in The Washington Post. On the tennis court, Evert rarely made a wrong move after bursting onto the scene at age 16, going on to win 18 Grand Slam singles championships. But the qualities that made her a tennis champ—the competitiveness and self-absorption—didn’t translate to healthy love matches. “Relationships are give-and-take, and when you’re a tennis player, you’re certainly not giving,” says Evert, 57. “It has to be about you.”
Her first marriage, to tennis player John Lloyd, lasted five years; when they split, she found happiness with former Olympic skier Andy Mill, with whom she had three sons. But during their 18-year marriage, Evert says, they “drifted apart,’’ and she let herself fall for his friend and business partner, golfer Greg Norman. Evert wed Norman in 2008, but their marriage was doomed from the start. “Once I got married to Greg, the reality hit me—the guilt and the sadness I had caused my family.” They divorced 15 months later.
Evert still feels regret over the pain she caused, but says she’s learned a lot of life lessons. “When you’re famous at 16, the rules change for you. You miss out on a lot of growing up and a lot of reality checks,” she says. “I’m a late bloomer.”
