"It's opened my eyes not to be judgmental": When Chris Evert retracted her claim about Serena Williams 'tarnishing her legacy' after icon's resurgence

Chris Evert once penned a brutally honest note offering a reality check to Serena Williams while she was struggling on tour. However, the 18-time Grand Slam champion walked back her statement after Williams made an impressive resurgence in the sport.

Just six years after clinching her maiden Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open, Williams won her seventh Major at the 2005 Australian Open and looked like she would dominate the sport for years to come. However, the American soon began struggling with injuries and a slump in form, failing to qualify for the WTA Finals that year. She only played four tournaments in 2006 and ended the year as the World No. 95.

During the 2006 season, Chris Evert wrote an open letter to Serena Williams in Tennis Magazine and questioned her commitment to tennis. Since Williams was spotted attending movie premieres, appearing on TV shows, and designing a fashion line amid her tennis struggles, the 18-time Grand Slam champion suggested that she was "tarnishing her legacy" by making time for such distractions.

"Do you ever consider your place in history? Is it something you care about? In the short term you may be happy with the various things going on in your life, but I wonder whether 20 years from now you might reflect on your career and regret not putting 100 percent of yourself into tennis. Because whether you want to admit it or not, these distractions are tarnishing your legacy," Evert said.

Evert also warned Williams that "the lifespan of an athlete’s greatness is brief" and advised her to dedicate herself to tennis for the next five years so she could fulfill her potential.

Just months after the stern letter was published, a self-proclaimed "out of shape" Serena Williams entered the 2007 Australian Open as an unseeded player and made an unlikely run to the final. Although she faced top seed Maria Sharapova as the underdog, the American dominated the title clash to win 6-1, 6-2 and clinch her eighth Major. She then continued to climb back up the rankings and regained the World No. 1 spot after triumphing at the 2008 US Open.

Chris Evert, who witnessed Serena Williams' 6-4, 7-5 win over Jelena Jankovic in the final of the New York Major, acknowledged her error before the match. The 18-time Grand Slam champion disclosed that she had learned not to be so judgmental about others' choices and praised the Williams sisters for their grace while dealing with challenges.

"Let's put it this way. It's opened my eyes not to be judgmental and to each his own. Whatever makes you happy. By having other interests, maybe you won't get burned out as quickly. I'm a big fan of both sisters. How they've handled everything is amazing. How they've endured with a lot of grace," Evert said (via the New York Times).

Serena Williams went on to surpass Steffi Graf's longstanding Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles when she defeated her sister Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the 2017 Australian Open final.

Chris Evert: "I always thought Serena Williams could be the greatest of all time; But when I wrote that letter, I didn't think she was taking it seriously"

Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams and Chris Evert - Source: Getty

After Serena Williams' triumph at the 2017 Australian Open, Chris Evert reflected on her strongly worded letter to the 23-time Grand Slam champion. She said that it had emerged out of her desire to see Williams achieve the success she was capable of.

Although Evert clarified that her intention was to steer Serena Williams away from distractions so she didn't have regrets about squandering her potential to be the greatest player in history, she admitted that she hadn't considered the challenges Williams was experiencing in her personal life.

"I always thought she could be the greatest of all time. But when I wrote that letter, I didn't think she was taking it as seriously as she could. She was losing to players she should have been beating, she wasn't in good shape, she was going to movie premieres, she was distracted," Evert said.

"I didn't want her to look back when she retired and think, 'All those years I squandered and I should have been in the best shape, I could have been more focused.' I didn't want her to have regrets. But what I didn't take into consideration was that she was going through a lot in her personal life too," she added.

Serena Williams had since revealed that she struggled with depression after the tragic murder of her half-sister Yetunde Price during her difficult time in 2005 and 2006.