OK, so Rafael Nadal won in Monte Carlo today - his 64th straight win on clay. He surpassed Guillermo Vilas' nearly 30-year record last year. It will be interesting to see if Roger Federer, also playing Monte Carlo, will be able to stop the streak before it reaches 70!
But talk of the streak has me thinking about Chris Evert who was, quite simply, the best claycourt player in the history of tennis. Beginning in August 1973, she won a record 125 consecutive matches on the surface until Tracy Austin stopped her 7-6 in the third in the semifinals of the Italian Open on May 12, 1979.
Imagine not losing a match on clay for nearly six years!
With that record snapped, Evert then won another 72 consecutive matches on clay before losing in a semifinal of the 1981 French Open to Hana Mandlikova. She never had such lengthy streaks again but ended up winning the French Open a record seven times including three final-round wins over arch-rival Martina Navratilova.
Evert retired from the professional tour in 1989. During her career, she won 157 singles titles (second-most in history) and won at least one Grand Slam singles title each year for 13 consecutive years from 1974 through 1986. She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her career and reached the finals in 34 and the semifinals in 52 of the 56 Grand Slams events she entered. Her overall record in Grand Slam events was 297-38 for a winning percentage of .887.
Now THAT'S an all-time great.