Tennis / Thomas Bonk : Seemingly Ready to Retire, Evert Admits She’s Past Her Peak

For the past six months, Chris Evert has been dropping hints, but the message she gave Thursday came through loud and clear.

Evert, 34, said she is 90% sure there will be no more Wimbledons for her and indicated again that this year is probably her last.

Four months ago, Evert lost to 15-year-old Monica Seles in the final of the Virginia Slims of Houston and that hastened her thoughts about retiring.

“That’s why I’m thinking about retirement now,” she said. “You know, this year. It’s always been on my mind: When is the right time to stop?

“You know, maybe I’m not willing to give 100% in every sense of the word, physically and mentally and emotionally like I used to.

“If I don’t do it and I start losing to players that I’ve never lost to before, then that’s the right time.”

Evert, who lost to Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon semifinals, said she is undecided about playing the tournaments to which she is committed--the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles is one of them.

“Obviously, I’m past my prime now, past my peak,” Evert said.

Steve Flink of World Tennis magazine, who has covered Evert since 1972, was surprised to hear such an admission.

“I’ve never heard her say that before,” Flink said. “She’s always talked like there was a chance she could improve.

“I don’t think there’s any question that this is Chris’ last year,” Flink said. “I think she’ll probably play the U.S. Open and that’ll be it. It’s probably 100-1 she’ll win the Open, but if she gets to the semifinals, I’m sure she’d be happy.”

If Evert does not play Wimbledon again, she will leave behind a record of making at least the semifinals 17 times in 18 years. The exception was in 1983 when Kathy Jordan beat her in the third round.

In Evert’s last 55 Grand Slam events, she has made it at least as far as the semifinals 51 times.

Does Ralph Kiner have British relatives?

In the style of the New York Mets’ broadcaster, who is famous for his bloopers, the BBC’s Wimbledon announcers have put their tennis shoes in their mouths before.

“There is Peter Graf, Steffi’s father, with his head on his chin. “

--DAN MASKELL “She puts her head down and bangs it straight across the line.” --ANN JONES “Diane keeps her head beautifully on her shoulders.” --ANN JONES “That shot knocked the stuffing out of their sails.” --FREW McMILLAN “They must take their minds off their games and think what tactics to employ next.” --ANN JONES “We’ve had no more rain since it stopped raining.” --HARRY CARPENTER “It looks as though the end is over.” --DAN MASKELL Newspaper lead of the week, from the London tabloid the Sun:

“Count Dracula saw off Batman on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

“Sweden’s caped crusader Ronnie Bathman (pronounced Batman) spilled some early blood by taking in the first set against the out-of-touch world No. 1 (Ivan Lendl).

“But in the end, there was only bad news to relay back to Gotham City . . . “

Boring quote of the week, from Sweden’s Mats Wilander:

“I think I am playing very well. I think I am playing better than before. You just get better. I think I am playing better than last year. I have to wait and see what’s going to happen or something.”

Best quote of the week, from Kristine Radford.

The 19-year-old telephoned her mother in Australia to tell her she had won the first set against Martina Navratilova in a match suspended by darkness:

“Mum was over the moon.”

Money talks (louder): Prize money for the champion in men’s singles is nearly 100 times more than it was 20 years ago.

The men’s singles winner will receive 190,000 British pounds, which is about $304,000.

In 1968, the first year of the open era, Rod Laver won 2,000 pounds, or about $3,200.

Only 10 years go, the prize money for Bjorn Borg was 20,000 pounds, or $32,000.

Paul Chamberlin, Dan Goldie and the others who reached the quarterfinals this year won $38,504 apiece.