100 Greatest Sports Stars - Number 97 - Chris Evert

The lady whose graceful postered form plastered the bedroom walls of many a teenage boy back in the 1970s, Chris Evert is a former World Number 1 tennis player.  From the US, she won an incredible eighteen Grand Slam singles championships.  She holds a number of records, too - six wins at the US Open and a Magnificent Seven at the French Open.  She was the world number one in at least five years (75 -- 77, 80-81) and according to some people she should have that title for 74 and 78 in to the bargain.  As such, she makes number 97 on our list of the 100 Greatest Sports Stars - Ever!

Young Christine Marie (later to be called Chris) was born on December 21 1954 and comes from notable tennis lineage. Her father was Jimmy Evert who by the time Chris was born was a professional tennis coach but who had won the Men's Singles at the Canadian Championships in 1947.

It was inevitable that Chris would chose tennis, then - drag racing was hardly going to be an option in the Evert family home!

In 1971 she made her Grand Slam tournament debut at the ripe old age of 16 - after she had won the national sixteen-and-under tournament.

It was a walk in the park at first - straight sets over Edda Buding.  However, she then had a much harder task against the more experienced Mary Ann Eisel and Leslie Hunt.  However, she lost out to the then indestructible Billie Jean King.  This meant an end to a fantastic 46 match winning streak but she was playing with the big girls now.

1974 was a good year when she won her first Grand Slam singles title (beating her previous winning streak with a remarkable 56 matches unbeaten.  As much focus was placed at the time on her relationship with fellow tennis professional Jimmy Connor as her victory - although this particular love match would prove to be a short live one.

She played with him in the mixed doubles finals that year but as her career progresssed Evert spent more time concentrating on her singles career.

Chris Evert wins the 1980 US Claycourt Championships.

Evert dominated the women's game for the next five years, defeating the likes of Evonne Goolagong enough times to secure her place in the annals of tennis as the best female player of that era.  She was a very cool player - receiving an ice maiden reputation, but then someone came along who would challenge her composure.

Although good friends off the court it was Martina Navratilova who would prove to be Evert's on court nemesis.  Their rivalry on the tennis court would become the stuff of sporting legend and while Evert bested Navratilova (seen together left) during their early encounters, Navratilova would ultimately prove the superior player in the 1980s.

Evert was a great player on all surfaces but it was on clay where she was most at home.  From August 1973 she won an unbeaten 125 consecutive matches on clay - and only lost seven sets.  This remains to this day a record.  Incidentally, this streak was broken by Tracey Austin at the Italian Open in 79.  She then went on to win a further 72 matches on clay before Hana Mandlikova beat her in the 81 French Open.


In one of their all-time greatest barn-burners, Chris & Martina went to 7-6 in the 3rd set in the '87 Houston final.

Chris Evert retired from professional tennis in 1989.  After all, 157 singles titles was not a bad amount on which to leave - neither were her eight doubles titles.

Even her semi-finals history is staggering - out of the 303 tournaments she entered she got through to the semis in no less than 273 of them.

All in all, Evert won at a minimum of one Grand Slam singles title each year for thirteen consecutive years.

What is Chris Evert doing now?  She is currently operating a tennis academy (which bears her name) in the town of Boca Raton in Florida.  She also contributes to Tennis magazine.

A tennis legend, she will continue to be one of the role models that young players look up to for many decades to come.

The Amazing Remi Gaillard

Perhaps if the French World Cup Soccer team had had Rémi Gaillard on their side they would not have left the tournament so shamelessly early.  The thirty five year old prankster has gained a massive reputation as a football trickster over the years and his awesomely accurate footwork might have come in handy for the French team a month or so ago! 

This video shows his full capacity and amazing ability to hit a target from a great distance - if these were nets here then the French would have won the World Cup!

Over the years Gaillard has infiltrated French football, including disguising himself as a Lorient player, taking part in the celebrations when the team won and being greeted by the French President, Jacques Chirac.  He also makes a lot of TV appearance and has never, despite the occasional humourlessness of the French authorities, been arrested for his pranks.

Go Gaillard!

100 Greatest Sports Stars - Number 98 - Annika Sörenstam

Annika Sörenstam giving an interview on the Today Show (aired 24th April 2007), on the opening of her new academy

From the fjords of Sweden, Annika Sörenstam comes in to our list at number 98.  She is often referred to as The Female Tiger as her achievements in womens' golf rank her as one of the most successful golfers (of either gender) in the sport's history.  She won 90 international tournaments before she retired at the end of the 2008 season.  This made her quite comforably the female golfer with the most winds to her name.

The list of her wins is staggering.  She has 72 official tournament wins to her name and that includes ten majors and 18 non-LGPA tournaments.  She also has earned a pretty penny from the sport - her fortune is estimated at well over $US20 million.  She now holds joint American and Swedish citizenship.

She also made history in 2003 when she went head to head against the chaps as the first woman to play in a men's PGA tour event since 1945.  Marketed usually as simply Annika her off course interests include a golf academy along with the usual branded products.  However, she also designs golf courses themselves and, a nobler pursuit perhaps, runs a charitable foundation in her name.

A BBC Tribute to Annika Sörenstam

100 Greatest Sports Stars - Number 100 - Andrew Johns

At Number 100 on our list of the greatest sports stars (ever!) is the legend who goes by the name of Andrew Johns.  An Australian Rugby League footballer he is thought of by many as the best player of all time.  During his career he was often trumpeted as the world's best halfback.  During the 1990s and the 2000s he captained the Newcastle Knights team at home and played 249 games for the team 0 a record.  He also represented Australia in 2 World Cups and played in twenty one test matches for the Aussie national side.

He retired from the game of rugby league at the age of thirty two in 2007.  This was young, but he had had a lot of injuries which, had he continued playing, would have seriously threatened his health both on the pitch and in the future.  However, he finished playing rugby league as the highest points scorer in the history of the Australian First Grade premiership.  How many pointa?  A total of 2,176.


Andrew Johns was announced as the Best Player of the Last 30 Years by the influential Rugby League Week.  For the imaginary Team of the Century  he was named as halfback.  An outstanding career which places him at number 100 in our list of the 100 greatest sports stars in the universe!