"Skip asked what my dad did for a living... Childhood insecurity got the better of me" - When Chris Evert was 'embarrassed' by her father's occupation

Chris Evert once shared an anecdote about the lie she told on a children's television show regarding her father Jimmy's career. The American candidly explained why she felt uncomfortable revealing the truth about her father's occupation.

Evert's father was a talented tennis player who had a successful collegiate career at the University of Notre Dame. He later competed on the professional circuit and won three titles before joining the Navy. Following his military service, Jimmy became a prominent tennis coach at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He also coached all five of his children in the sport, with the 18-time Grand Slam champion beginning her training when she was five.

Around the same time, Chris Evert made an appearance on the popular children's program 'The Skipper Chuck Show.' In a 2010 article for ESPN, the American recalled being asked her name and her father's occupation by the host. While the former World No. 1 confidently said her name into the microphone, she hesitated to talk about her father's career.

"When I was five years old, I was on a popular children's program in South Florida called "The Skipper Chuck Show." The small studio audience was all kids, and there was a segment in which Skipper Chuck would ask them questions," Chris Evert said.

"It just so happened that on my lone appearance, the Skip put a microphone in front of me and asked my name and what my dad did for a living. I had no hesitation telling him my name was Chris Evert. I pulled up short, however, before revealing my father's occupation," she added.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion explained that being a professional tennis coach was extremely rare in those days. Evert confessed that she fell victim to "childhood insecurity and embarrassment," which led her to claim that her father was a painter, believing it was a "more reputable" line of work.

"My dad was a tennis coach, and fifty years ago nobody's dad was a tennis coach. Childhood insecurity and embarrassment got the better of me, and I gave my dad what I felt was a more reputable line of work. "He's a painter," I said," she wrote.

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Chris Evert on her father Jimmy: "He certainly made all the difference in my career, not bad for a painter"

Chris Evert - Source: Getty

Despite her childhood embarrassment regarding her father Jimmy's career, Chris Evert credited him as a major driving force for her success. During the aforementioned piece, the 18-time Grand Slam champion expressed her delight at her father receiving the well-deserved honor of having Holiday Park renamed after him.

"After he retired in 1997, the tennis facility at Holiday Park was renamed the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center. It was a great honor for him but completely deserved. No one has had a bigger impact on the success and popularity of tennis in Southern Florida than my dad. He certainly made all the difference in my career. Not bad for a painter," Chris Evert said.

The former World No. 1 also highlighted that her mother Colette had been equally devoted to supporting her and her siblings' tennis pursuits while also ensuring that they struck a healthy balance between training and enjoying their childhood.

"She made sure all my brothers and sisters had balance in their lives. Yet she was devoted to our tennis as much as my father was, taking us all over Florida to play in different tournaments," she said.

Chris Evert emphasized that she had lucked out with her father and mother's supportive upbringing, especially in a "sport that was notorious for bringing out the worst in parents."