Chris Evert: Bowing Out with Grace

- Oh, okay. So this is the last, the last US Open, 1989. I mentally was sort of slipping out of the game. So we sort of orchestrated that year where I would go back to all my favorite tournaments and play one last time. I won the US Open six times. It was one of my more successful majors, and it was only fitting that I should retire at that tournament. - And so Chris Evert left the grounds of the US Open for the last time as a player. She left all of us a little richer for the experience of watching her play. - I remember every year going to the US Open and feeling the crowd support. When you have 15,000 people cheering you on. You know that that gives you that zest and that energy. So every match that I played at the Open was a little more support than normal because it was going to be my last tournament. When I walked out with Zina, I probably felt overconfident because I knew that my record was stellar against her. And sure enough, raced off to a 4-1 lead, a 5-2 lead in the first set, you know, playing well. And then I just, you know, my concentration left me and I didn't feel that that burning competitiveness to close the match. I let up and all of a sudden I lost 7-6, 6-2. - It's match point, it's all over. - I couldn't have lost to a nicer player than Zina Garrison, though. I have to say that when we went up to shake hands, she was visibly more upset than I was. I gave her a hug because I was trying to comfort her. It's all right, I'm okay. It's okay. That's my nature. You tried to be gracious. - She's such an unselfish player. - When it came to competing, I think I had a good perspective. It was a game, it was a sport. You did the best you could. I didn't get upset. I didn't have a bad temper on the court. It's just an important aspect of my game that I, that I was proud of.