Martina Navratilova turned 20 in October 1976. Eight months earlier Kitty Barkett made the observation, "When you've got a game as aggressive as hers and you concentrate, you're unbeatable...Martina should think about being No. 1. When she becomes a woman, she'll be the most unbelievable tennis player of her time. She doesn't realize it now, but she will." As Kitty predicted, Martina eventually became the No. 1 ranking tennis player in women's tennis in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986.
Chris Evert made the point, "90% of my game is mental. It's my concentration that has gotten me this far." Billie Jean King believed, "Chris is the toughest mentally but, Martina is the strongest physically. Martina is a brute. The media doesn't understand Evonne (Goolagong). They think she acts indifferent and doesn't care. She does care. Most people don't understand that tennis matches are played internally. You have 2 types of players. One type like Chris must sustain concentration, must drive internally. Tracy (Austin) is more like Chris. All the new kids coming up are like Chris. That's who the kids relate to."
Steffi Graf turned 18 in June 1987. She was asked, "Can you see playing Gabriela (Sabatini) (at Wimbledon) 10 years from now?" At the time observers were trying to "imagine the next 3, 5, even 10 years unfolding. What will the London tabloids be saying in 1997?" The consensus, "In another world, they might be anywhere else, all the other teens in this world are. But they walk through Wimbledon like destiny, holding rackets and a future." At the same time, Chris conceded, "I’ve been on the road since I was 16 and now I’m 32. I think it's hitting me more than ever that I don’t want to be a gypsy. I want to do things like a normal girl." Gaby turned 17 in May 1987 offered, "Steffi is a great player and we both can look forward to a long future together."
"Some matches, if eagerness counted for all, I would win easily, some I would get blown out regardless who I play," Martina confessed. Julie Anthony observed, "Martina has an abundance of talent, more than any other player, but she often is inclined to lose confidence and not play to her full potential...(Chris) has the necessary mental glue..." Virginia Wade maintained, "Chris’s mind on court definitely the strongest of all the great champions I've played, even stronger than Billie Jean King's because it was more stable." Chris turned 30 at the end of 1984. On reflection, she acknowledged, "I used to be a machine, so mechanical. People wrote that and I got angry but it was true: wind her up and she plays tennis. Now, I’m a person. I’m 29 years old and things change."
Kristien Shaw made the comment, "It is hard to become No. 1 and, once there, maintain it. (Chris) must always be asking herself, 'Where do I go from here?'" Chris reasoned, "People have this fantasy about their stars and idols. They want us to retire on top, but life isn’t like that and I’m not sure that’s the right time. You just don’t see athletes doing that and maybe that’s because we need a year or 2 after being No. 1 to get our feet back on the ground and our head out of the clouds."
Kristien Shaw made the comment, "It is hard to become No. 1 and, once there, maintain it. (Chris) must always be asking herself, 'Where do I go from here?'" Chris reasoned, "People have this fantasy about their stars and idols. They want us to retire on top, but life isn’t like that and I’m not sure that’s the right time. You just don’t see athletes doing that and maybe that’s because we need a year or 2 after being No. 1 to get our feet back on the ground and our head out of the clouds."
