"When Chrissie lost, it was miserable being married to her" - John Lloyd opens up about Chris Evert's winning mentality, their tumultuous marriage and more

Chris Evert is one of the greatest champions tennis has ever seen. She had an exceptional career, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles. Every player needs to have an elite mentality to become a great one and Evert had that in abundance.

While speaking on the Rock n Roll Tennis podcast recently on the occasion of the release of his new autobiography titled "Dear John: The John Lloyd Autobiography", the American's ex-husband John Lloyd narrated a story to sum up the difference between her mentality and his.

The Brit recalled how Chris Evert beat Martina Navratilova in the semifinals of the 1980 Wimbledon despite being an underdog, back when Lloyd also served as her coach.

"Being married to Chris, and then you're with a great, great player and then you see the difference of the mentality. She got to the semis of Wimbledon one year when we were married and I was coaching her then. She beat Martina Navratilova in the semifinals and she was about 8/1 underdog, Martina had been chopping her on grass," Lloyd said.

"Martina was just a better player than Chris on grass and no one thought Chris could win. I'll be honest, I didn't and I was a coach. I certainly didn't tell her that. Anyways, she won this semifinal match, great performance and she didn't have a day off because it rained. So, instead having the traditional day off, she had to play both Friday and Saturday," he added.

Unfortunately, the American had to play two days on the trot due to an unexpected rain delay. Lloyd added here that after the win against Navratilova, Chris Evert looked as if she had already won the Grass Major, seeing as Navratilova was the player to beat in the tournament.

Despite Lloyd insisting that she keep her focus and turn her attention to the summit clash, the Brit revealed that Evert dismissed his concerns. Just as he foretold, though, the American went on to lose in the final to Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

"[Chris Evert] was, I could see on her face, it was like she had won the tournament. To beat Martina there, even though it was the semis, that was like, for her, the tournament," Lloyd said.

"After 10:30-11 at night, I said to her, 'Listen, unbelievable win but we've got finals to worry about in 14 hours. She like, 'Don't worry about that'. Okay, she knows best. Woke up in the morning and at breakfast, I could tell she was flat. That nervous energy wasn't there, I could tell. So anyway, she lost," he added.

The Brit used the opportunity to touch on their tumultuous marriage at this point, disclosing that being married to Chris Evert was "miserable" when she lost. Explaining further, he spoke about their flight to Miami after the 1980 Wimbledon final and how he tried to lift her spirits by suggesting a holiday trip.

"When Chrissie lost, it was miserable being married to her. For a week, it was like a catastrophe, she was not good. So, there was no fun going on in the Lloyd household for a week. So, we get on the plane to Miami. We got a ten-hour flight. Those days, there was no video. So, I pretended to read and I knew she didn't want to talk to me. She was looking outside the window thinking that she would jump out," Lloyd said

"So, about half-an-hour before we landed, I thought, 'I need to break to ice'. I thought, 'What would John Lloyd do if he got to the finals of Wimbledon'? Well, I would take a two-week holiday in Maui, what the hell else would I do? I'd sit on the beach, pina coladas, relax, won't do anything," he added.

"I want to play for two or three hours, I don't want to ever lose to her again" - John Lloyd reveals Chris Evert's reply to his holiday offer

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Chris Evert, however, shot John Lloyd down, saying that she would much rather go home and train in the heat rather than take a trip and that she never wanted to lose to Goolagong Cawley again.

"So I said to [Chris Evert] 'Bad luck, you know. Let's go to a holiday in Hawaii or somewhere'. She looked at me and said 'You're kidding, aren't you?' I said, 'You want to go someplace else?' She goes, 'Yea, I want to go home, I want to get our racquets, I want to go right out on the courts and I want to play for two or three hours. I don't want to ever lose to her again', and it was around 100 degrees in Miami during the summer on clay,"

Lloyd added that the story pretty much summed up the difference between a great player like Chris Evert and someone like him who was just a good player but would never go to such extreme lengths.

"I know it's a silly story but that's the difference of someone with greatness, the drive, the really great players and someone like me who was a good player but would never go to those lengths to win a match or whatever, no chance," the Brit said.