"I feel sorry for him if he is that bitter about white players"- When Chris Evert chastised Serena Williams' father Richard for controversial comments
Serena Williams' father Richard was at odds with several tennis players and journalists at the turn of the 21st century. While 18-time Major winner Chris Evert was one of the stars that faced his wrath, she certainly didn't take his smack-talk sitting down nearly two decades ago.
Evert spoke to ESPN during a tell-all interview in 2006. Towards the end of the interview, the American legend was told that Richard Williams was unhappy with the open letter she had written to his younger daughter in a tabloid called 'Tennis Magazine'.
The journalist who interviewed Chris Evert informed her that Serena Williams' father had found her words to be derogatory and that he had called the former player a 'little white no-good trasher'.
The then-52-year-old, however, didn't take kindly to these barbs. She insisted that she wouldn't escape the media's ire if her parents had made such remarks, before suggesting that the tennis world wasn't interested in what Williams Sr. had to say.
"As far as Richard, the quotes, I don't know what to say. I kind of feel sorry for him if he is that angry and bitter about tennis players and about white tennis players," Chris Evert said about Serena Williams' father to ESPN in 2006. "When people lash out like that, they must be miserable people. I'm not going to compound it. I think it's unacceptable."
"If my parents had come out with quotes like that, I think people would make a bigger deal about it. He has a history of saying things that are unacceptable. And I don't really think many people in tennis listen to him anymore. So if I make a stink about it, it's just going to draw attention to it. That's why I didn't say anything," she added.
"Do you ever consider your place in history?" - Chris Evert wrote to Serena Williams in 2006
Chris Evert wrote an open letter to Serena Williams when the latter was struggling with motivation in 2006. The African-American was admittedly suffering from a host of problems, including a knee injury, fitness issues, and depression at that time, causing her ranking to plummet outside the WTA top 50 rankings.
The 18-time Major winner Evert penned an open letter to her around this time in an effort to light her lost fire. The American legend reminded Williams of her world-beating 2002 and 2003 WTA tour seasons, which bore witness to the famous 'Serena Slam', before posing a rather bold question - "Do you ever consider your place in history?"
Having said that, while Chris Evert was full of praise for the then-seven-time Major champion, she made a few choice remarks, like: "I wasn’t blessed with the physical gifts you possess", "these distractions are tarnishing your legacy", and "I don’t see how acting and designing clothes can compare with being the best tennis player in the world".
"I’ve been thinking about your career, and something is troubling me. I appreciate that becoming a well-rounded person is important to you... Still, a question lingers—do you ever consider your place in history? Is it something you care about... Because whether you want to admit it or not, these distractions are tarnishing your legacy."
"Why not dedicate yourself entirely for the next five years and see what you can achieve? Perhaps the reason I feel so strongly about this is because I wasn’t blessed with the physical gifts you possess. I know that the lifespan of an athlete’s greatness is brief and should be exploited... I don’t see how acting and designing clothes can compare with the pride of being the best tennis player in the world."
"Your other accomplishments just can’t measure up to what you can do with a racquet in your hand... You could become the most famous athlete in the world... I hope you make the most of it."
