Female Leaders: Christine Marie Evert - Research Paper Example

Female Leaders: Christine Marie Evert Female Leaders: Christine Marie Evert (Women’s tennis, Christine Marie Evert or Chris Evert is one of the greatest women tennis players of all time. “The original American sweetheart, Evert won 18 Grand Slam single titles including a record seven at Roland Garros and a record six at Flushing Meadows—and finished No. 1 in the world seven times, including five straight years from 1974-78” (Women’s tennis, 2011). Perhaps Chris Evert is the first player in women’s tennis history who has started the beautification process of tennis. Before Evert era, tennis was considered just like another sports activity and beauty has nothing to do with this sports activity. However, Evert succeeded in proving the hidden role of female beauty in popularising a game like tennis. Apart from being a great tennis player, Evert was a beautiful lady during her playing days and therefore even people who dislike tennis started to visit tennis courts in which Evert was playing. In short, Chris Evert is one of the greatest ambassadors of tennis and she played a significant role in popularising tennis in America. This paper analyses Chris Evert as a leader and a person. Chris Evert as a tennis player Chris Evert was born on December 21, 1954. She started to take tennis lessons even at the age of five. Her father was a professional tennis player which helped her to learn the basics of tennis at an early age itself. She has made her Grand slam tournament debut at the age of 16. “A strong case can be made for Evert as the greatest female player ever, especially when you factor in her 157 singles titles, 29 doubles titles”(Women’s tennis, 2011). It should be noted that Chris Evert never faced a first or second round elimination in any of the women tennis competition in which she took part. Her winning percentage is the best in the world regardless of the gender. Another major characteristic of Evert as a tennis player is her crowd pulling abilities. During her playing days, people started to fill in tennis court galleries in order to see Evert’s performances regardless of their interests in tennis. The mannerisms, looks, movements, and all other activities performed in the tennis courts by Evert attracted people all over the world. Unlike some of the current tennis players, Evert never showed any dissent over the umpiring decisions. She accepted all umpiring decisions; in favor and against, with true sportsman spirit. She never showed any displeasure over unexpected defeats suffered from tennis courts. Tennis was a just a game for Evert; nothing more and nothing less. Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf were the major opponents faced by Evert during her tennis playing days. In fact the matches like Evert vs. Martian and Evert vs. Graf were the most popular tennis matches during the latter parts of twentieth century. Even though Evert was a fierce opponent in tennis courts, she never exhibited same aggression off the court. In fact Martina is one of her all-time best friends. Evert succeeded in educating the world that women sports personnel can keep their feminine nature intact. It should be noted that women tennis players like Martina were more interested in maintaining a muscular body just like male athletes in order to stay fit for matches. The general beliefs were such that a muscular body is necessary even for women athletes to win matches, until the Evert era. However, Evert succeeded in rewriting that belief. She never tried to develop a muscular body for winning matches and was keen in maintaining female characteristics. “In 1995, Evert was inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 2005 "Tennis Magazine" named Evert the fourth best Tennis player in four decades. ESPN named Evert as the 50th best North American athlete of the 20th century”(Potak, 2011). Chris Evert as a leader “While tennis has been my profession, helping needy children has been my passion. For almost a decade it has been my pleasure to work in partnership with The Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida to help hundreds of substance-abusing moms get the help they need to give their children a good start in life”-Chris Evert (About Our Charities, 2011). Unlike many other retired sports personalities, Evert started to dedicate her future life for charity works, instead of focussing more on the nonplaying aspects of sports such as coaching, mentoring, umpiring etc. In fact she has organized a charity or fundraiser match immediately after her retirement from professional tennis. The funds raised from charity matches were used for the rehabilitation of drug addicts in America. In other words, one can see the qualities of Evert in taking a lead role in helping the poor from her activities after the retirement. Chris Evert is one of the greatest exponents of leadership. In her opinion, winning and losing are part of life and it is necessary to treat both in the same manner. She never showed any dejection or displeasure over the outcomes of her matches. The victories over arch rivals like Martina and Steffi after fiercely contested matches were celebrated with true sportsman spirit by Evert. She never overjoyed over any of her victories and never shown any dissent over any of her losses. In her opinion, sportsman spirit is necessary not only in sports but also in real life. “Even at the height of her celebrity in her late twenties, when asked by a reporter if she considered herself petty, Evert smiled poignantly and said ‘Just Missed” (Howard, 2006, p.22). Even though Chris Evert is one of the most beautiful sports women of all time, she never tried to do anything silly to project or expose her beauty. In fact she is an introvert woman who likes to stay away from publicity. It should be noted that many of the current sports celebrities are making news for remaining live in public lime light. However, Evert never created any news for polishing her image. Conclusions Chris Evert is one of the best women sport personalities of the modern era. She is a person of immense character and a role model for the upcoming sports personnel. She never tried to sacrifice her feminine characteristics for capturing more victories. Wins and losses were treated equally by Evert. She never tried to sacrifice her entire life for sports activities. She always respected her opponents and never tried to intimidate them on tennis courts. After retirement from sports, she dedicated her rest of life for charity works. Currently she is more interested in social activities like the rehabilitation of drug addicts in America. References About Our Charities (2011). Retrieved from http://www.chrisevert.org/about/charities/ December 18, 2011. Howard J. (2006). The Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship. Publisher: Broadway (June 13, 2006) Potak M. (2011). Chris Evert History. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/362813-chris-evert-history/ December 18, 2011. Women’s tennis (2011). Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/667383-greatest-tennis-players-a-z-volume-e December 18, 2011. Read More