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Chris Evert will receive the 'Serving Up Dreams' award at the US Open this year, thanks to all the charitable work she has done for the USTA (United States Tennis Association) through the years.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion will be honored on the first day of the tournament (August 28) at the gala that will be held in New York. Evert started working with the USTA charity foundation in 2016, setting up a fund in the name of her late father Jimmy Evert.
Speaking to the press during the announcement, USTA Foundation Board president Kathleen Wu praised Chris Evert as a "force of nature" who changed lives, saying:
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"She's not just a legend on the court; she's a force of nature in changing lives."
Chris Evert was a six-time winner at the US Open
Chris Evert won the US Open singles title six times in her career. Her first trophy at Flushing Meadows came in 1975, when she beat Evonne Goolagong in the final to win the fourth Grand Slam of her career.
Evert proceeded to defend her title the next three years -- beating Goolagong again in the 1976 final, downing Wendy Turnbull in the final in 1977 and Pam Shriver in the title bout the following year. In 1979, the former World No. 1 reached the final once more but fell to Tracy Austin.
1980 witnessed Evert go all the way again, with the American defeating Hana Mandlikova in the championship bout. Chris Evert's sixth and final US Open trophy came in 1982, for which she downed Mandlikova in the final once more.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion reached two more finals in New York, in 1983 and 1984. Both years, she lost to Martina Navratilova. To add to all those trophies, Evert also has a mixed doubles runner-up trophy to her name, reaching the final alongside fellow American Jimmy Connors in 1974.
Speaking in an interview about what brought out the best in her when playing at the US Open, Evert said:
"Playing in front of my home crowd. I mean, that’s my country. USA is my country, and I think all American players somehow peak or they get that extra something going where they play at another level when they play in front of the New York crowd."
She gave the fans a lot of credit for helping her along the way, adding:
"The fans – they’re like baseball fans. They’re loud and they’re boisterous, and you get so much support as an American player. I think it’s just really special, and the juices get flowing as soon as you enter the venue."
