New WTA Award named after Chris Evert!

The Evert Tennis Academy’s own Chris Evert has been honored in a special way by the WTA on October 26^th 2018. WTA has named the World No.1 Chris Evert Trophy after the legendary tennis player. Simona Halep becomes the first recipient of the trophy during a ceremony at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore.

Chris Evert became the first ever WTA World No.1 on November 6, 1975 and held onto the top ranking for 260 weeks, the fourth most in history of the WTA. Following the 1975 season that saw her make 17 finals and take home 15 titles, she also became the first player to hold the distinction of WTA Year-End World No.1. The American finished her illustrious career in 1989 with 157 singles titles, including 18 Grand Slam titles.

Chris responded to the great honor with a speech; "I’m honored and privileged to have my name on this trophy," said Evert. "It’s the ultimate achievement to be No.1 in the world in any endeavor. When I was a young girl, I always dreamt of winning a Grand Slam but I had bigger dreams about being No.1 because it’s about being consistent, focused and having a lot of quality wins” What has made her into such a appreciated player? "It was very important for me to be a good sport. It’s sport, it wasn’t worth it for me to lose my temper and cause a scene. You’re going to have good days and bad days. Be a good sport on the court, be a good role model for kids and be appreciative of being in this life, not always thinking: ‘What will people give me?’ but: ‘What can I give to others?’"

Simona Halep received the first WTA World No.1 Chris Evert Award following her best season yet, claiming her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and lifting two additional trophies at the Shenzhen Open and Rogers Cup presented by National Bank (Montreal). A further three final appearances at the Australian Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome) and Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) helped her claim the WTA Year-End World No.1 Singles Award presented by Dubai Duty Free for the second consecutive year.

"I’m very happy to be the first player to hold the Chris Evert WTA World No.1 Trophy," said Halep. "Chris is one of the greatest players of all time and I think it’s great that she is being honored this way."

The Chris Evert WTA World No.1 Trophy depicts a silver “star-map” tennis ball that represents the tennis universe. All World No.1s, past and present, are represented by a diamond in the sky, which signifies each champion’s mark on the sport. The finish of the “star-map” tennis ball is hand stippled with thousands of tiny dots, representing all the female professional players that have ever played the sport in the past and towards the future.

For more information and an awesome video, check out this link:  https://www.wtatennis.com/news/1438343/world-no1-trophy-dedicated-to-legend-chris-evert!