
The Rivals
Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova: Their Rivalry, Their Friendship, Their Legacy
Johnette Howard(Author)
Yellow Jersey Press
Published on 1. June 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-224-07506-0 (ISBN)
Description
In March 1973 two women met on a tennis court in Akron, Ohio. Over the course of the next sixteen years, together they would change the world. There has never been a sporting rivalry to match the intensity, longevity, public impact and emotional resonance of the eighty-match-long duel between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. In their long careers Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert played each other eighty times, sixty of those in finals. For nearly two decades we were transfixed by the struggle between the ice-maiden Chris - blonde, all-American, a nation's sweetheart - and the supreme athlete Martina, a Czech defector, the first outspoken openly gay athlete in female sport, and a woman who wore her heart on her sleeve at all times. Their careers played out against the backdrop of seismic change in tennis and society, and, together, they helped change the face of women's sport. Thirty years on from that first meeting, both have become legends. Based on interviews with both Martina and Chris and those who knew them best, Johnette Howard gives us their remarkable story.
Reviews / Votes
'Two stories that, with thrilling inevitability, become one. Beautifully constructed...vivid and enthralling.", Simon Barnes, The Times ."The Rivals is must reading for anyone with a passion for tennis and for anyone curious about Evert and Navratilova's utter transformation of the women's side of the game.", Billie Jean King, ."excellent...The Rivals convincingly evokes the social and political temper of those tumultuous times of which the Martina-Chris rvialry is an enduring symbol that preficured the sense of spectacle, mass appeal and sexiness that are so much a part of the women's game today", Soumya Bhattacharya, Observer ."Gripping", Valerie Grove, Mail on Sunday ."written with the full cooperation of both stars, this is essential reading for any tennis fan limbering up for Wimbledon", John Koski, You Magazine ."The Rivals is a truly excellent book: finely written, scrupulously researched and fascinating to the end.", Joanna Briscoe, Guardian ."It's full of insights into the strange world of tennis", Charlie Lee-Porter, Mail on SundayMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
272 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-224-07506-0 (9780224075060)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Johnette Howard is an award-winning sports journalist. Previously with the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated, she has been a sports columnist at Newsday since 1999. She was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, and her work is included in David Halberstam's Best American Sports Writing of the Century. She has known Martina Navratilova for over ten years.