Evert still heeds call of the U.S. Open

NEW YORK -- As busy as Chris Evert's summer has been, she still found her way back to Flushing Meadows as the Grand Slam celebrated 40 years of the Open era on Monday night.

Evert, a six-time U.S. Open champion, returned for the gala event at Arthur Ashe Stadium just two months after marrying star golfer Greg Norman.

Even though she has three boys starting school this week, Evert wasn't about to miss a regal night like this.

"I have a lot going on, but whenever I'm called on ... whenever the USTA or whether it's Wimbledon or any of the Grand Slams call and they we're having all the past champions get together to celebrate and have a parade or whatever, I just love doing things like this," said Evert, who won four straight U.S. Open titles from 1975-78.

"It's part of my past that I want to still have it be part of my future, too," Evert said on the red carpet outside the stadium named for the late Ashe, the first men's champion of the Open era. "I don't want to just erase the past and say that was then and this is now and now I'm a mom and now I'm doing other things."

FROM KID TO MOM: Lindsay Davenport began her U.S. Open career way back in 1991 when she was just 15 and feeling very overmatched.

Now at 32 she is back for her 17th appearance in the main draw at Flushing Meadows. Instead of being a kid, she is the mother of one -- 1-year-old Jagger Jonathan.

Davenport was a U.S. Open semifinalist in 1997 and the tournament winner a year later -- eventually reaching No. 1 in the world.

"Becoming a champion of it and then becoming a player with really good results, and now coming back as a mom and as a former No. 1 and the champion, I mean it's just all overwhelming," Davenport said.

She missed last year's tournament after her son was born in June, the first American championship she sat out since making her debut.

MURRAY'S HILL: Andy Murray comes into the Open with his highest ranking ever at No. 6. The 21-year-old Brit said his attitude on the court changed after he committed to getting into better shape.

"Now that I've started to work really hard off the court, you go into the matches with sort of no excuses, no worries," he said after beating Sergio Roitman of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round Monday.

Murray spent about a month in Florida training around the beginning of the year. He'd go to the gym twice a day and practice in steamy conditions. He also now travels with a trainer.