When we were competing against each other for 18 years, with her as No.1 and me as No.2, or the other way around, there was a lot of tension between us. At the end of the week we were the only two players left in the locker room. But we still had each others’ backs even then. Every Sunday one of us would be comforting the other one. There was always that caring, that compassion between us. It was very deeply rooted.
7-time French Open champion Chris Evert on her rivalry with 9-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova. With 18 singles Grand Slam titles each, one of the two held the top spot for all but 23 weeks for 12 years between November 1975 until August 1987. In one of sports greatest rivalries, the pair met 61 times in finals, 14 of which were in Grand Slams.
Alex Raphael 