Chris Evert isn’t an “ice maiden” in the broadcast booth.
The tennis Hall of Hamer, who earned the nickname for her calm and fierce demeanor during her playing days, was overcome with emotion after Ukranian pro Elina Svitolina defeated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinal at Wimbledon in July.
It came nine months after Svitolina, 28, gave birth to her first child, daughter Skaï Monfils, with husband and fellow pro Gaël Monfils in Oct. 2022.
Evert, who’s currently working as an analyst for ESPN at the U.S. Open, told The Post she was brought to tears over Svitolina’s triumphant return and success on the tour, all while she raised funds for her homeland amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“It has to be so emotional for her to have her family back there and to see war going on — and she’s been so supportive and raising money for relief funds, while she’s playing, while she’s raising a child,” Evert, who partnered with IBM, the officially technology partner of the U.S. Open, said.
“Her leadership with Ukraine, it’s so emotional… She is a very special human being… It’s all about the stories.”
Svitolina’s Wimbledon run came to an end after she lost the semifinal to the eventual 2023 champion, Marketa Vondrousova.
Svitolina, playing through a knee injury, reached the third round at the U.S. Open before losing to Jessica Pegula.
The U.S. Open semifinals on Thursday night will feature Coco Gauff vs. Karolina Muchova and Aryna Sabalenka vs. Madison Keys.
Evert, a six-time U.S. Open champ, was known for her mental toughness on the court.
“Nothing really fazed me,” Evert said.
She said she believes that was due in part to the fact that social media didn’t exist, and the spotlight wasn’t as bright on the game’s stars the way it is in today’s game.
“When I was playing, tennis was simple,” Evert said. “There is more simplicity in strategy and in fundamentals. There wasn’t as much information out there… about science, diet, sleep and injuries. Tennis, is a big business now. There’s big money.
Evert, now 68, was the first female player to reach $1 million in career prize money in 1976 ($8,896,195 total).
“These players are in the spotlight every second of the day,” Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam winner, said. “Everything’s much more magnified on this day than in my day. So consequently, I always say I’m so glad I came up in the 70s. We were able to walk around and not have bodyguards, and talk to the fans. It was a lot easier.”
Evert also explained that fame, as well as the pressure of winning, felt “paralyzing” at times.
“I got into the game of tennis because I love the sport and I had no idea of the fanfare, the spotlight — and no idea that people were hanging onto every word,” she said. “I was no Billie Jean King. I was not a leader. I was more of a follower, I was shy and liked to observe people.
“Look, Naomi Osaka went through the same thing. I mean, we start out because we love to play tennis, but the things that go along with success — some are wonderful and other things are paralyzing.
“You have absolutely no privacy. Everything you do in your life is documented. People are staring at you, people are coming up to you all the time. And then there’s the expectations and the pressure of winning when you’re when you are number one. Everybody knows, especially with the mental health issues, that it can get a bit much. In our day, we didn’t have those issues because it wasn’t it wasn’t as overwhelming as it is now.”
Osaka skipped Wimbledon last July, saying at the time that she had “suffered long bouts of depression” since winning her first Grand Slam title in 2018.
Another resource Evert didn’t have during her playing days is IBM’s technology, which elevated the digital fan experience at this year’s U.S Open in Flushing Meadows.
At this year’s U.S. Open, IBM introduced a platform of innovation that includes AI Commentary and Draw Analysis by infusing the US Open’s abundant data with IBM’s watsonx AI technology.
Evert starred alongside former Giants quarterback Eli Manning in a commercial for IBM at the U.S. Open.
