With 15 years and 61 matches between them, tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navrativola have one of the most intense rivalries in sports history. Their new film, Chris & Martina: The Final Set, thoughtfully delves into the pair’s history, friendship and parallel journeys fighting cancer.
The film, which premiered at Tribeca Festival on June 10, opens with Evert at a cancer screening. Viewers get a glimpse at just how painful the process is, no matter someone’s accolades or level of fame. From there, the film sets up Evert’s early tennis beginnings in the 1970s and her quick rise to number one. However, the story truly heats up when Navrativola enters the scene. Even if you’ve never seen a tennis match before, the tension between the two players radiates off the screen.
Courtesy of Netflix
Rather than simply showing footage of their matches, director Rebecca Gitlitz set the pair up on a couch and captured their reactions to their old games.
“We’ve never watched it, so it was like reliving and remembering it,” Evert said in a post-screening Q&A. “It was fun to find that emotional place that we were in 30, 40 years ago.”
Gitlitz excellently spotlights how both athletes pushed each other to be better, even in their most tense years. Beyond their athletic compatibility, the banter between the two is downright hilarious. They even joke at one point about who lost more weight during their treatment. Their dynamic adds a much-needed reprieve from the heavier moments of the film.
Instead of making a cookie-cutter sports story about these two women, Gitlitz digs into the emotional complexity of athleticism, fame, and cancer with the pair’s friendship at the heart of it. Even if you know nothing about tennis or their legendary rivalry, you’ll fall in love with with the pair’s resounding resilience.
Chris & Martina: The Final Set is available to stream on Netflix starting June 26.
