Overview
- Netflix released Chris & Martina: The Final Set on June 26, a documentary by Rebecca Gitlitz that traces Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s 1970s–80s rivalry and decades-long friendship.
- The film uses interviews, archival footage and vérité scenes to surface candid details, including Navratilova’s defection from Czechoslovakia and a reporter’s outing of her sexuality.
- Both players’ recent cancer experiences are a throughline in the film, with Navratilova reported as cancer-free after treatment and Evert publicly announcing a recurrence of ovarian cancer.
- The documentary shows how differences in media treatment and commercial opportunities shaped their careers and public images, with Evert cast as an American media favorite and Navratilova often scrutinized as an outsider.
- Beyond personal revelations, the film highlights the pair’s wider impact: roughly 80 head‑to‑head matches helped raise the profile of women’s tennis and provided a template for later champions.