Chris Evert reveals how motherhood brought her a deeper kind of happiness

For Chris Evert, becoming a mother changed what she wanted from life. The tennis great had already walked away from professional tennis when she welcomed her first son, Alexander James, in 1991. But motherhood gave her a feeling that went far beyond retirement. Evert has said, “Once I had my first child, I didn’t want to leave his side.” The simple line explains why her first child quickly became more important than the sport that had defined her for years.Why Chris Evert did not want to leave her first child’s sideEvert became a mother on October 12, 1991, when she and her then husband, former Olympic skier Andy Mill, welcomed Alexander James Mill. She was 36 at the time and had retired from professional tennis two years earlier.Even though Evert was no longer playing full time, tennis had not completely disappeared from her life.