Three lady legends within three hours. And that was by noon. Today I had the pleasure and privilege of catching up with three lady legends—Chris Evert, Stefanie Graf and Angela Buxton—all mothers who said they admire Kim Clijsters' great comeback run at the U.S. Open. Here is Part I with Evert.

By Liza Horan

10:10 a.m. Interview with Chris Evert at a studio on West 37th Street as part of a satellite TV tour she's doing on behalf of Hood Simply Smart milk.

Evert's day started at 5 a.m. as she prepared for a day of interviews with TV stations to talk about how Simply Smart fits into her healthy lifestyle. The studio was decked out to look like a morning talk show's food segment. The Simply Smart products, fruits, vegetables, whole grain artisanal bread and a delicious looking spread of cheeses was laid out on a wood- topped island in the "kitchen."

"I have a partnership with Hood and I'm helping to get the word out about the Simply Smart milks and how they are offering all the taste without the fat. And I am a big milk drinker anyway—legitimately—and my kids drink milk," says Evert, dressed in a bright cerulean blue top that compliments her goldilocks and amber eyes. "I just think it's one of the more pure, natural food that has the protein you need, that has the calcium that we women need, which is very, very important."

Her persona today, in this setting, mirrors that of her tour days: On camera (as on court), she is focused, delivers on point, and seems at ease. Off camera (as off court), she is the jokester, putting others at ease. The last time I got a one-on-one interview with Evert was in 2004 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., when she signed on with calcium supplement brand Citracal.

There's a reason Evert has had very few product associations outside of the sport.

"I don't lend my name to anything that I don't use and that I don't believe in," says Evert, who insists her few product endorsements have been natural connections. "And at the same time I've been approached by a lot of companies just for the money. I want to be authentic. And I want to be real when I'm out there talking about these products."

The common link of her endorsements is health, from a sunscreen ("Once again—Hello!--I have been out in the sun my whole life. It prevents cancer and I think that's very, very iportant.") to Citrical and now Hood Simply Smart.

For the latter two, "The tie-in is all about calcium and you need calcium when you're growing up for strong bones and also for women. I'm over 50 years old so I'm going through that stage in life where I probably lost a lot of calcium and I need to get it back so drinking two or three glasses of milk a day is going to bring that calcium back to me."

The svelte, bubbly Evert makes almost-55 look amazing. It's more than her newlywed status—she and golf pro Greg Norman married 15 months ago.

"I believe in fitness and just because I retired from the tennis tour I didn't want to stop exercising because more than how you look the most important thing is how good is it for your health and your heart—and also how you feel. Are you mentally sluggish? Are you depressed? Are you just not not feeling sharp? The great thing about exercise is that i just feel better and I'm able to deal with the things that life brings me—like three teenage boys and dealing with them," she laughs.

"Cardiovascular (workouts) on the tennis court plus the nutrition off the court; I think they all go hand-in-hand."

The partnership with Hood Simply Smart coincides with the brand's expansion this year beyond the Northeast into the Southeast. Hood is supporting the 20th annual Chris Evert Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic, which is set for Nov. 6-8 in Boca Raton, Fla.. Since its inception, the event has generated nearly $18 million to benefit South Florida programs that aid children in need or at-risk and mothers who are addicted to drugs. Lindsay Davenport, Jim Courier, comedian Jon Lovitz and broadcaster Matt Lauer are participating, and Hood Simply Smart is running a sweepstakes that will provide a weekend for two people to participate in the event and play golf with Norman, among other activities.