Lloyd on Lloyd

The darling of U.S. tennis fans from her first appearance in the big time at age 16 in 1971, Chris Evert ruled the women's tennis game throughout the '70s, a relentless machine determined to win. By contrast, Britisher John Lloyd is an enormously gifted athlete who is lackadaisical about his game and quickly becomes discouraged; he has never ranked higher than 24th in the world. After the breakup of her engagement to Jimmy Connors, Evert married Lloyd. Because of their vastly different temperaments, their marriage has been rocky and involved a lengthy separation, then a reconciliation. Thatcher, the prime minister's daugher, is clearly more interested in the couple's romance than in tennis, and she approaches their story like a fan magazine feature-cum-soap operaboy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl. Photos not seen by PW. (June 9)