Martina Navratilova did not lose a set through the first six rounds of the 1985 French Open.

Neither did Chris Evert.

So of course, in the final, something had to give.

 

In many ways, it is a queer, cruel fate that Evert and Navratilova's careers overlapped so significantly. Had the other not existed, either would have been hailed as the greatest player of all time. 

Evert went 82-8 in 1985, but four of those losses were to Navratilova. Navratilova was 82-4 that same year, and three of her losses were to Evert.

Each woman wound up with 18 Grand Slam singles titles. Evert's domains were Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows. She won seven titles at the French Open and six more at the US Open. She won at least one Slam every year from 1979-1986. 

Navratilova owned Wimbledon - winning it nine times - but only took the French title twice, although she was the defending champion heading into the spring of 1985.

Navratilova was a wrecking ball in the early rounds - with winning scores of 6-1, 6-0; 6-3, 6-0; and 6-0 in her first three matches.

Evert gave up a few more games, but was unscathed after eliminating young Steffi Graf in the fourth round.

It wasn't until the semifinals that an opponent took four games in a set off Navratilova, but she still swept Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6-4 ,6-4.

Evert seemed to get stronger as the tournament got longer, wiping out Terry Phelps 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 6-1 in the semis.

Navratilova's first set loss of the tournament came in the final as Evert took a 6-3 advantage, but the ferocious Martina fought back for a 7-6 (4) equalizer.

With the two titans both on the edge of defeat, Evert eked out a a 7-5 third set to claim the title. She would defend her crown in 1986, besting Navratilova 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. 

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