SUBURBAN BOCA RATON, FL -- If you are talking numbers, the Chris Evert list goes on and on.
157 singles titles, 18 grand slams, seven years as the world's number one.
And there is at least one more.
"I can't believe it. I think it's the 19th one," says Evert.
For the past 19 years, she has hosted the Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic in Palm Beach County.
There will be some new faces competing on the court this year.
Comedian Billy Crystal and 12-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres will join regulars like Chevy Chase, Stone Phillips, Maeve Quinlan, Bud Collins, Vince Spadea, Alan Thicke, Jana Novotna, Gavin Rossdale, and Jon Lovitz.
"Lindsay Davenport, the former number one player, is coming back along with Jim Courier and myself and I'm trying to talk my husband Greg Norman into playing," says Evert.
Norman stood on the sidelines of the Tennis Classic last year, but Chris says over the past year, she has been coaching him courtside.
"I'm his only coach. He can't have another coach, you know. (So how's he doing?). He's doing great," says Evert.
Norman is doing great on the greens this year too.
"I love watching him play. You know, I get nervous for him," says Evert.
In between spring and summer championships, the two tied the knot.
"Greg, he's a wonderful man and I'm very lucky to have him in my life and we have a lot in common and we connect at every level," says Evert.
"It's something that you want to talk about, but at the same time, you don't because you know, it's a private thing and other people are affected by it also," adds Evert.
What Chris will continue to talk about is the upcoming charity weekend when thousands gather at the Delray Beach Tennis Center and Boca Raton Resort & Club for tennis by day and toasts by night.
Chris started the Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic in 1989.
1989 was the year she retired. It was the end of her professional career, but the start of something special.
Chris created the fund raising event to fight drug abuse and assist neglected and abused children in South Florida.
"What these treatment centers do is they get these women or men back into the mainstream of life, back on track, whether they're gonna work, whether they want to go to school, whether they want to be great parents, whatever, it gets them back into mainstream of living," says Evert.
"Circumstances in life sometimes get you to a very low and a lot of people in the world, that's how they reacted by turning to drugs and its not something that you should look down on and snub it's, it can happen to anybody," adds Evert.
Which is why the tennis great and her great team hope everybody supports this cause by supporting them on the court.
The 2008 Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic takes place November 1-2nd.
Tickets are still available for the Delray Beach Tennis Center action and the Boca Raton Resort & Club Gala dinner.
Contact Chris Evert Charities at 561-394-2400 or
www.chrisevert.org for ticket information.
General admission tickets for the tennis action are $20 per day.
Series tickets are $70. Box ticket packages are also available.
Children under 10 are free if accompanied by an adult.
Gala tickets are $750 each.
Check back to
www.wptv.com to find out what items will be up for auction at the Gala.
