Navratilova Weeps in Beating Evert in ‘Legendary’ Match

WIMBLEDON, England — Chris Evert came up a loser today, though she played her best tennis in a semifinal match that will become a Wimbledon legend. Even Martina Navratilova, who beat Evert, wept for her.

Evert said the sorrow was misplaced.

“I can’t play any better,” Evert said after losing 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to her longtime rival on Centre Court.

“This is her best surface. If anything, I feel proud of myself. Today I played really, really well and I can’t ask any more of myself,” Evert said.

Navratilova had tears in her eyes at the end of the two-hour, two-minute match, their 73rd contest.

“It was for Chris losing,” Navratilova said. “I really wished that she could win this tournament one more time. It actually overwhelmed me. I did not expect to feel that much.”

Navratilova meets Steffi Graf, who thrashed Pam Shriver today, in the final. Graf, 17, was 4 when Navratilova and Evert played their first match.

“The turning point was walking out there,” Shriver said of the 6-0, 6-2 trouncing she took.