James Andrew "Jimmy" Evert (July 31, 1923 – August 21, 2015) was an American

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

coach and player. He was the father of

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

, who was one of the world's top women tennis players in the 1970s and 1980s. Evert was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. As a youngster, he was a two-time U.S. age-group champion. He won the 1940 Illinois state high school championship while playing for

Senn High School Senn High School is a public four-year high school located in the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Senn is operated by the Chicago Public Schools system and was opened on 3 February 1913. The school ...

of Chicago. After serving briefly in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, he attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

on a tennis scholarship, where he majored in economics. In 1945, he won the

Middle States Championships The Middle States Championships, also known as the Middle States Sectional Championships or Championship of the Middle States, was a regional level tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually ag ...

Elmsford, New York Elmsford is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. Roughly one square mile, the village is fully contained within the borders of the town of Greenburgh. As of the 2010 census, th ...

against Bill Kenney. In 1947, he won the men's singles title at the

Canadian International Championships Canada Open or Canadian Open may refer to: * Canadian Open (golf), the Canadian Open of golf *Canadian Women's Open, a women's professional golf tournament managed by the Royal Canadian Golf Association *Canadian Open (tennis), the Canadian Open of ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

against Emery Neale. From 1949 until the end of his career he played mainly on the pro tour, that year he reached the quarter finals of the U.S. Pro Championships, but lost to

Bobby Riggs Robert Larimore Riggs (February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995) was an American tennis champion who was the world No. 1 amateur in 1939 and world No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December ...

. In 1950 he won the PLTA Spring Championships against Bill Kenney. After retiring as a player, he became a professional tennis coach. Evert taught all five of his children at the tennis center in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, which was named in his honor in 1997. He also coached

Brian Gottfried Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is an American retired tennis player who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career. He was the runner-up in singles at the 1977 French Open – Men's singles, 1977 F ...

Harold Solomon Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the cours ...

and

Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles t ...

. Evert died from pneumonia on August 21, 2015, in Fort Lauderdale. He was 92.Jimmy Evert, father of tennis great Chris, passes away at 92
/ref>

References

External links

The Jimmy Evert Tennis Center

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evert, Jimmy American male tennis players Tennis coaches from Florida Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's tennis players Tennis players from Chicago Tennis players from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Tennis players from Illinois Chris Evert Military personnel from Illinois 1923 births 2015 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Florida United States Army personnel of World War II Professional tennis players before the Open Era Tennis coaches from Illinois 20th-century American sportswomen