Chris Evert & Martina Navratilova's 2nd Graphite Racket match: 1984 Virginia Slims!

A lot of history is contained in this footage: Only Chrissie&2nd tournament with a graphite racquet, and the first best 3 of 5 match for womens tennis in the Open era - the 1984 Virginia Slims Championships final. Easy to see in comparison to the wood racket footage, the balls are hit harder, the rallies extended longer by the added stability of graphite, even very defensive positions could be turned into offensive winners. It was not as easy to recognize back then the difference, as Chris played a full 10 matches against Navratilova during which she used a wood racket while Martina was playing with graphite! But from this match on, there was no going back - we had entered a new era of the sport.