"It was the worst thing I ever did" - When Chris Evert admitted to smoking marijuana during her career in the 1970s

Anirudh
Chris Evernt is an 18-time Grand Slam champion.
Chris Evernt is an 18-time Grand Slam champion.

Chris Evert once admitted to smoking marijuana in her career, stating that she did not find it to be a positive experience.

In John Feinstein's book, Hard Courts, Evert stated that she once smoked marijuana but did not like the experience one bit as she felt "brain-dead".

"It's illegal, and it's dangerous. When I smoked it, it made me brain-dead. I was out of it completely," the book quotes her as saying.

Later, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, Evert said that the only reason she admitted to trying marijuana was to speak about how it was not a good experience for her.

"The only reason I admitted I had tried it was to say that there is nothing positive about it. If you want to feel good and feel high, then you go for a run; you don't smoke a joint," she said.
"I said one sentence to Feinstein, and then I saw the headlines. I'm sorry, but in the '70s I did try marijuana. In the '70s that was the thing to try. So I did experiment. It was the worst thing I ever did, because it totally clogged my brain. I couldn't think," she added.

When asked what other information about the 18-time Grand Slam champion the public was not aware of, she did not disclose much but admitted that she was not a "goody two shoes".

"Without getting into it, just that I'm not as goody two shoes as people think. They think that I am squeaky clean. I'm a normal woman. I've dated a lot of guys, I've had a few drinks, I've told dirty jokes, I've cursed, I've been rude to my parents. I'm a normal person," she expressed.

"We might do something" - Martina Navratilova joked about celebrating positive cancer diagnosis with Chris Evert by smoking marijuana

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have won a combined 36 Grand Slam titles.
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have won a combined 36 Grand Slam titles.

Martina Navratilova was diagnosed with breast and throat cancer in January 2023, 13 years after she was declared cancer-free from her previous breast cancer diagnosis.

After receiving extensive treatment in New York, Navratilova received the all-clear from doctors in June. In an interview after receiving the good news, the former World No. 1 said that she might celebrate the news with her good friend Chris Evert and that it might involve smoking marijuana.

"Right now, alcohol, it tastes terrible. I haven’t had alcohol for 2 months during the treatment. I quit, I didn’t want to. But then taste buds change, and I tasted little tequila the other day—oh my god. Wine is horrible, it’s like the worst vinegar you can imagine," she told Piers Morgan.
"It will come back; it’s coming back slowly. I have never been drunk in my life. But I may get drunk this time around. This will be a good time to celebrate. We might do something. Pot is legal here in Florida. And maybe we’ll just smoke a joint in honor of Bob Marley," she added.

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