"They'd write something nice one day, and then they'd rip me"- When Chris Evert commented on press treatment during Wimbledon 1976

Chris Evert spoke about how she was treated by the press during the 1976 Wimbledon Championships.

Evert entered the tournament as the top seed. She booked her place in the final, beating Linda Thomas, Annette Coe, Lesley Hunt, Betty Stove, Olga Morozova, and Martina Navratilova.

The American faced second seed Evonne Goolagong Cawley in the final and won a thrilling encounter 6-3, 4-6, 8-6 to win her second singles title at Wimbledon.

In an interview later in 1976, Chris Evert claimed that the press would write something nice about her one day but would later criticize her. She even stopped reading the papers due to this.

"They said I wasn't playing well, that Evonne was at her peak.Wimbledon is like that. You have to overcome a lot of things. They'd write something nice one day, and I'd think maybe they like me a little, and then they'd rip me. I had to stop reading the papers," Chris Evert said.

Speaking about the match, Evert said that it was the first time she saw Goolagong nervous, which increased her confidence.

It was the first time I ever saw Evonne nervous. Looking across the net at her I saw strain on her face and I knew she wanted to win it very badly. It made me a little more confident. Usually it had been the other way around," she added.

Apart from her singles triumph, Evert also won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1976 with Martina Navratilova as her partner. The duo were seeded second and beat top seeds Billie Jean King and Betty Stove 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the final.

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Chris Evert won three singles titles at Wimbledon

Chris Evert at the 1982 Wimbledon Championships

Chris Evert has won the women's singles title at Wimbledon thrice, the first of which came in 1974. The American was seeded second at the tournament and beat Olga Morozova 6-0, 6-4 in the final.

The 1976 triumph was her second title at the grass-court Major. She lost three successive finals from 1978-1980 before winning in 1981. Evert was the top seed that year and became the Wimbledon women's singles champion for the third and final time in her career without dropping a single set. She triumphed 6-2, 6-2 over Hana Mandlikova in the final.

Evert reached another three finals at Wimbledon in 1982, 1984, and 1985 but lost to Martina Navratilova on each occasion.