One-to-one conflict injects adren- alin into sport. For a period, inevitably finite, a pair of rivals will elevate themselves above their contemporaries, and produce contests which will divide not only cognoscenti, but also the community at large, into two camps. This book is about one of the most magnetic of such contests for primacy waged over a decade and a half, between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the unofficial title, Queen of Women’s Tennis.
What makes such a rivalry truly memorable? The talents of the pair must be equal but separate — equal because otherwise the outcome would be predictable; separate because even if unpredictable it would be tedious. The boxer must confront the fighter (Ali v Frazier); the calculator, the risk-taker (Nicklaus v Palmer); the powerhouse, the stylist (Ovett v Coe); the urbane tactician, the rough-hewn motivator (Wenger v Ferguson). Evert, the ultimate baseline player, and Navratilova, quintessentially the server and volleyer, fulfil this condition; the former dominant on clay, the latter on grass.
But a difference in character, even of culture, is a prerequisite of the appropriate elevation of excitement. Born and raised in the red, white and blue corner was Chris Evert, Miss America Pie, perfectly proportioned, blonde, tanned, blue-eyed, if not quite the ice-maiden of the sponsors’ image, at least with an orthodox catalogue of lovers and husbands. Born in, but escaping from the red corner, was Martina Navratilova, muscular physique, aquiline features, whose lesbian love life was no less complex than that of her indisputably heterosexual competitor. The scenario reflected an orthodox plot by Jeffrey Archer — a tale of a twosome who reached the top of their particular mountain by different routes, in which the younger (Martina) saw the older (Chris) first as an icon, then as a colleague, then as an opponent, and finally, in mellow maturity, as a friend.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in