The weather for the finals was exceptionally hot, even by Florida standards, the courtside temperature hitting approximately 130 degrees. In front of a capacity crowd of 5,100, Evert and Jaeger settled in for what was likely going to be a long, hard battle.
But Evert was the veteran, armed with patience, experience, and the powerful blend of skill and will that had made her as tough a competitor as tennis has ever seen. Wrote Peggy Gossett about the match in the book, World of Tennis 1981, “Patiently, like a predator stalking its prey, Chrissie stayed back on the baseline, waiting until her foe succumbed to the pressure before moving in for the kill behind her disguised drop shots.”
It was a classic Evert plotline: a tight first set, Evert winning it, 6-4. Then, dominance, Evert snapping Jaeger’s resolve to take the second, 6-1.
Said Evert, “This is where my first pro tournament win took place, and my 100th was here, so it’s only fitting.” At which point the crowd rose and paid tribute to Evert’s tremendous accomplishment.
There followed 57 more singles titles, including seven majors.