Chris Evert Lloyd Says She Will Cut Down on Her Play After ’87

NEW YORK —  Chris Evert Lloyd says this will be her final year of full participation on the women’s tennis tour.

She will continue, however, to play selected tournaments, including Wimbledon and the French, U.S. and Australian opens.

“I would be very, very surprised if I play past this year,” Lloyd said in a telephone interview before leaving for Japan. “The work is very hard now.”

Lloyd, 32, has won 148 titles and 1,143 matches, the most of any player, male or female, since tennis’ open era began in 1968.

“It takes me longer to get warmed up, longer to recover from a tough match,” she said.

Her last tournament victory came in June at Roland Garros, where she defeated Martina Navratilova in the women’s final of the French Open.

After that victory, she suffered a knee injury that eventually forced her to withdraw from several tournaments, including the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships in November and this month’s Australian Open.

She first exploded onto the tennis scene in 1971 when, as a 16-year-old high school student, she reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Since then, she has won six U.S. Open titles and has never been eliminated before the semifinal round.

Lloyd has won seven French Opens, three Wimbledon and two Australian Opens.

Her most remarkable record is a 125-match winning streak on clay, stretching from August 1973 to May 1979.