Understanding the Chris Evert Approach to Tennis Strategy

Chris Evert was one of the most fundamentally sound baseliners the sport has ever seen. Her game was built on consistency, precision, and a forehand that moved with heavy topspin while staying remarkably low over the net. If you're trying to study her technique or understand how she dominated the 1970s and early 80s, you need to look past the 18 Grand Slam titles and actually break down what made her movement and shot selection work. Her signature was the two-handed backhand, which she operated as an offensive weapon rather than a defensive crutch. Most players back then hit slice or went for winners under pressure. Evert just kept the ball deep, crosscourt, and inside the lines, making opponents chase it. She won 66% of her career points on return, which is staggering when you consider that era had no Hawk-Eye and line judges were notoriously inconsistent. The trick was her footwork — she rarely got behind the ball because she positioned herself so early. By the time the ball bounced, she was already at contact point. I tried replicating her backhand grip with a beginner coaching student a few years ago. We used the eastern backhand grip she favored instead of the more common continental or semi-western. Within three sessions, she lost 7 of 10 practice sets because the racquet face was open on low balls and she couldn't generate topspin on higher bounces. The workaround was switching to a one-handed backhand for low balls and only using the two-hander for medium-height entries. It's not a perfect transfer for modern players whose courts are faster and whose balls bounce higher due to modern string technology. Evert played on slower clay and indoor carpet. Your context matters.

How to Study Her Play Effectively

First, find footage of her matches from 1974 to 1981. Early color broadcasts exist on YouTube and the US Open archives. Don't watch the rallies — watch what she does before the ball is hit. She was constantly resetting her stance between points, adjusting her grip, and reading her opponent's positioning. That pre-point routine is where the actual strategy lived. Second, note her tendency to pull wide on her opponent's backhand side on second serves. This forced returns deep and gave her time to set up the next shot. Third, her forehand was flat with slight western grip — not the heavy spin modern players use. It penetrated because of placement, not pace. A common mistake people make when analyzing Evert is assuming her success came from power. It didn't. It came from depth and angle creation. She kept the ball within the singles sidelines at all times and let her opponent make the error. This means if you're studying her for your own game, focus on target zones rather than swing speed. A typical rally she controlled had the ball landing 1 to 3 feet inside the baseline. Anything deeper than that was considered a weak shot by her standards. That level of consistency — she won 76% of her service games across her career — required thousands of hours of repetition that most casual players won't invest. There's also a limitation to keep in mind. Evert's game translates poorly to modern hard courts with faster surfaces and heavier strings. The tactical window she exploited — deep crosscourt balls that pushed opponents back — is less effective when the ball skids through and comes back at you faster. Players like Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty adapted similar principles but modified them for their own physical profiles. Evert's blueprint works best on clay or slow hard courts, and even then, you'll need to add more varied spin to compete at a high level today. If you're just starting out, her match analysis from the 1975 French Open against Kerry Melville is a textbook example of controlled aggression, and it's freely available online.