Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert's Rivalry, Friendship and Cancer Journey Explored in New Documentary (Exclusive)

Eileen FinanWed, June 3, 2026 at 1:30 PM UTC

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Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert in 2024
Credit: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty

Key Takeaways

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova reflect on their 50-year bond in the Netflix documentary 'Chris & Martina: The Final Set'

Both tennis legends faced cancer diagnoses, with Evert battling ovarian cancer and Navratilova confronting breast and throat cancer

Netflix is sharing a new trailer for the documentary

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have been the greatest of rivals, but they became the closest of friends.

The tennis greats are opening up about their more than 50-year relationship on the court and off — and how they've supported one another through the toughest of times — in a new documentary, Chris & Martina: The Final Set, which premieres on Netflix on June 26.

Netflix is sharing a first look at the documentary trailer with PEOPLE.

Evert and Navratilova battled each other 80 times in the 1970s and '80s, including 60 finals matches, and they transformed the way women were regarded in sports.

"They shifted culture together," says Chris & Martina director Rebecca Gitlitz. "They stood at the top of the mountain together, which meant that they pushed each other nonstop."

Evert and Navratilova in 1986
Credit: Chip HIRES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

But their toughest foe turned out to be a common one: cancer.

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Evert, 71, was diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer in 2021, a year after her sister died of the disease. Navratilova, 69, first faced breast cancer in 2010 and underwent a lumpectomy. Then in 2023, she learned her breast cancer had returned — and she also had throat cancer.

Evert's French Open victory over Navratilova in 1986
Credit: AFP/getty

"They have such a shared history and when they each got cancer, it became almost ironic that it came back to this parallel path," says Gitlitz.

Navratilova in 1985 after her Wimbledon win over Evert
Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty

Gitlitz says they began working on the documentary two and a half years ago, after Navratilova's second diagnosis, but in late 2023, after they'd begun filming, they were faced with stunning news: Evert's cancer was back.

The film became even more personal and intimate as Evert allowed cameras to accompany her to doctor appointments and to film her son buzzing the last strands of her hair after chemotherapy.

Evert undergoing treatment in 2024
Credit: Chris Evert/instagram

"Chrissy never thought she was going to get it again, so I think the second diagnosis hit her harder," Gitlitz says. "I think it put her in a much deeper introspective place."

Both women, she says, were motivated by their cancer journeys to cooperate with the documentary, in hopes that their experiences would prompt others to get screened early and to know they aren't alone.

"I think they took that responsibility very seriously," she says. "They thought if people like us who are top athletes, who take care of themselves, who have access to healthcare are struggling, then other people are struggling. It meant a lot to them to put this out there for others."

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”