Colette Evert, mother of Chris Evert, dies at 92

Colette Evert, the matriarch of a tennis family that produced five children who were successful in the age-group and professional ranks, including 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, has died. She was 92.

She died last Thursday in Deerfield Beach, Florida, according to a tweet by Chris Evert and an online obituary posted by Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale.

“At 92, it was her time, and she went peacefully and gracefully,” Evert tweeted.

FILE - This is a Sept. 12, 1971, file photo showing Colette Evert in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sept. 12, 1971, file photo. Colette Evert, the matriarch of a tennis family that produced five children who were successful in the age-group and professional ranks, including 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, has died. She was 92. She died last Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, according to a tweet by Chris Evert and an online obituary posted by Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale. (AP PhotoFile)

Born Jeanne Colette Thompson on June 15, 1928, in New Rochelle, New York, she went by her middle name and was the youngest of 10 children.

In 1952, she married Jimmy Evert, a tennis teaching professional in Florida whom she met at the wedding of a mutual friend in New York. The couple moved to Florida, where Jimmy was the city of Fort Lauderdale’s tennis director for 49 years. He died in 2015.

The couple’s five children played tennis collegiately or professionally. While her nervous husband stayed home and waited for a call relaying match results, Colette Evert was a regular presence traveling with her children to junior, amateur and pro tournaments over several decades. Known for her quiet demeanor, she was well-regarded by tournament directors and other players.

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 1972, file photo, members of the Evert family are shown in their home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Front row from left are John, 10, mother Colette, Jeanne, 14, and father James. Back from left are Chris, Drew, 18 and Clare, 4. Colette Evert, the matriarch of a tennis family that produced five children who were successful in the age-group and professional ranks, including 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, has died. She was 92. She died last Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Deerfield Beach, Florida, according to a tweet by Chris Evert and an online obituary posted by Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale. “At 92, it was her time, and she went peacefully and gracefully,” Evert tweeted. (AP PhotoFile)

“Our mother was loved by everyone who knew her. She was gracious, kind and nurturing," said Chris Evert, the year-end world No. 1-ranked player seven times. "She never had a bad word to say about anybody and would often cheer for our opponents when they played well against us. If there is a Hall of Fame for Tennis Moms, she was undoubtedly the first inductee.”

Chris Evert's longtime rival and friend Martina Navratilova tweeted, “Colette was as good a person as one could ever meet and a role model for all tennis parents.”

Besides her devotion to her family, Colette Evert had a deep and abiding Catholic faith. She had served Holy Communion to homebound seniors who were ill or unable to attend services.

Besides Chris, she is survived by sons Drew and John and daughter Clare Evert-Shane; 10 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Jeanne Evert Dubin, died in February.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Weathers was steamed when he found out he was joining the New York Yankees.

“I had had just finished up my bullpen and I get back to the house — I have like a little travel sauna,” he recalled Thursday. “I literally probably had sat on my couch for about two seconds and I got a phone call from Peter Bendix that I had been traded.”

Bendix, Miami's president of baseball operations, sent the 26-year-old left-hander to New York for four prospects on Tuesday: outfielders Brendan Jones and Dillon Lewis, and infielders Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus.

Weathers is the son of David Weathers, a pitcher who helped the Yankees win the 1996 World Series after he was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline.

“We’ve kind of had a weird, similar paths as to how we got to New York,” Ryan Weathers said.

When Ryan makes his Yankees debut, they will become the fifth father-son duo for the pinstripes, joining Yogi and Dale Berra, Clay and Cody Bellinger, Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., and Ron Davis and Ike Davis.

Ryan said he was in shock when he spoke with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.

“I just couldn’t believe that the New York Yankees were a team that I could ever have a chance to play for," he said.

New York’s rotation at the season's start projects to also include Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón rehab from injuries.

Weathers, 26, was 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last year in his second straight injury-shortened season. He missed time with a strained left flexor, made his season debut on May 14, then didn’t pitch for Miami between June 7 and Sept. 11 because of a left lat strain.

He was 5-6 with a 3.63 ERA over 16 starts in 2024, when he was sidelined by a strained left index finger.

“This is the best I’ve probably felt in a year-and-a-half,” Weathers said. “I really did a dive and worked with company on figuring out how to lengthen my lat out, lengthen my back out. We really adjusted a lot of my lifting patterns. We really adjusted my mobility and my prep work, and I think my arm is reaping the benefits right now.”

Ryan grew up in big league clubhouses and remembered the Cincinnati Reds' room with Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Votto. He played pickle with Dusty Baker, Ramón Hernández, Eric Milton and Juan Castro.

“There’s been a lot of hours put in the Cincinnati Reds' batting cages,” Weathers said. “I just remember Pops taking me to the field every day. I know when his arm was hurting, he’d still throw me BP.”

Ryan was the seventh overall pick by San Diego in the 2008 amateur draft. His dad's knowledge helped him during tough times.

“When I first started going through it and getting adversity and getting traded, he really helped me along those lines of figuring out: This is what you do with your new team. This was what you do in your day-to-day,” Ryan said. “So I’ve been doing mechanics since I was age 10.”

He has remained close with pitcher Aaron Harang, a teammate of his father who last played in 2015.

“He still texts me all the time,” Weathers said. “When I was younger, I didn’t really care about pitching. I just wanted to hit bombs in the outfield, so I didn’t really think about it.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sept. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson, File)