INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert reignited their storied rivalry at the BNP Paribas Open, taking part in a fun exhibition match to raise awareness for the Love & Love Tennis Foundation.
The Love & Love Tennis Foundation was established by former WTA pros Rosie Casals & Tory Fretz in 2015 to help raise money for Junior tennis by assisting existing Junior organizations and programs in the development and support of grassroots programs in the Coachella Valley.
Photo gallery: WTA Legends rally in support of Love & Love Tennis Foundation
Part of the WTA’s Original 9, Casals has been a pioneer for women’s tennis and an advocate for equal prize money for her entire career and beyond.
“Our generation, we love tennis - our life is still tennis,” Casals said. “Martina and Chrissie are in broadcasting in tennis, Billie Jean [King] has World TeamTennis, I have my foundation that’s involved in tennis.
“Most of our generation is still doing something in tennis, and it’s beautiful to have such friends with big hearts like Martina, Chris, Billie Jean be a part of what I’m doing… We want to give something back to tennis.”
To raise awareness for the Foundation, WTA legends and longtime rivals Navratilova and Evert took to the court at Indian Wells for a fun doubles and singles matchup.
“We were both pretty evenly matched,” Evert said. “Martina’s still got the hand, she’s still the greatest doubles player that ever lived, for sure. But we still have fun.
“We can laugh at ourselves now, which we probably couldn’t do 30 years ago. We were pretty serious about our game back then.”
Read more: The women who changed tennis: Why the 'Original 9' matter to WTA
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