Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova Were Tennis Rivals and Friends for 50 Years. Then They Had to Fight Cancer Together (Exclusive)
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova Were Tennis Rivals and Friends for 50 Years. Then They Had to Fight Cancer Together (Exclusive)
Eileen FinanFri, June 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC
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Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert photographed for PEOPLE on June 10, 2026Credit: Alex Huang -
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova bonded over shared experiences, including their battles with cancer
The tennis legends reflect on their decades-long friendship, which began as rivals and evolved into mutual support and understanding
A new Netflix documentary, Chris & Martina: The Final Set, explores their relationship and how cancer deepened their connection
EDITOR'S NOTE: The version of this story that appears in our print magazine was published before the news of Evert’s cancer recurrence.
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova arrived the morning of June 10 at PEOPLE's New York offices for a dawn to dusk day of press together. Sitting side by side, they mused about the passage of time with the ease of two old friends who finish each other's sentences.
“I think we're better off than most 70-year-olds as far as fitness,” Evert, 71, observed.
Added Navratilova, 69: “The body is not the same, but it's not too bad. I'm jealous of Chris's flat stomach because mine is not. But we both still have good butts!”
More than 50 years after the tennis legends — and legendary rivals — faced off on the court for the first time, that sort of gentle joking is about as combative as they get these days. “There's no competition now, and that's where I want to be,” says Evert. “We're just supportive of each other.”
Even as they battled in 80 matches during the '70s and '80s, including 60 tournament finals, Evert and Navratilova forged a friendship through their extraordinary shared experience.
Navratilova and Evert at Wimbledon in 1978Credit: Rob Taggart/Central Press/Getty
“We were front and center for all the important events in each other's lives,” says Evert. But in the past four and a half years, the pair, each of whom has won 18 Grand Slam titles, grew even closer as they shared a different kind of challenge: cancer.
A new Netflix documentary, Chris & Martina: The Final Set, streaming now, gives an intimate look at their relationship over the years and how their bond deepened after Evert faced a recurrence of ovarian cancer after Navratilova went through treatment for breast and throat cancer. The strength of that friendship is particularly relevant after Evert's announcement on Thursday June 25 that her ovarian cancer has returned for the second time.
Speaking to PEOPLE two weeks before that announcement, Navratilova says they have been each other's rock as they've confronted the disease. “It wasn't something we needed to get closer to each other, but knowing the other one's there and knows what you feel like, it's like you're not alone anymore. She was there for me, I was there for her.”
The Netflix documentary on the tennis legends begins streaming June 26Credit: Netflix
When the two first met as teens in Florida in 1973, they had little in common beyond their sport.
At 19, Evert was a young phenom raised on tennis in Fort Lauderdale with a pro coach dad. Dubbed the Ice Maiden for her cool demeanor under pressure, she'd made her Grand Slam debut at 16.
Evert at Wimbledon in 1972Credit: Colorsport/Shutterstock
When Navratilova, then 16, arrived in the U.S. from communist Czechoslovakia, “she was vulnerable and wide-eyed about America,” Evert recalls. Navratilova remembers being in awe of Evert: “She said hi to me, and I was so happy. I just wanted her to remember my name.”
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Navratilova in the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1975Credit: S&G/PA Images via Getty
The pair traveled on the women's circuit with stars like Billie Jean King. Before long, they teamed up as doubles partners, winning the French Open in 1975, the year Navratilova defected to the U.S. But as Navratilova's skills improved, Evert put up a wall. “I was No. 1, and she was up-and-coming. She knew my game better than anyone and knew me emotionally and mentally,” she says. “I needed to take that edge away. My priority was to be No. 1.”
Evert broke up their partnership. “It wasn't like ‘Martina, I'm breaking up our friendship.' ” But “I think it hurt Martina,” she adds. “She had a better capacity to play her friends. But it took away from my game.”
Meanwhile Navratilova, who faced pressure from the press asking if she was gay, was encouraged by her then-girlfriend to see Evert as “the enemy.” She trained harder. “She was buff and and muscular and tough,” Evert recalls. Beaten by Evert in the 1975 Wimbledon semifinals, Navratilova turned the tide, besting Evert in the tournament in '78 and '79.
Halfway through their rivalry, in the late '80s, their dynamic shifted again. “We'd be the only ones left in the locker room every Sunday [after] the finals, and it hit me,” says Evert. “Finally I could separate competing and having a good friend.”
Navratilova and Evert at the French Open in 1985Credit: Jacqueline Duvoisin /Sports Illustrated via Getty
Since then, the two have shown up for each other in good times and bad. “Most of my friends were gay, so I only went to three weddings — two were Chris's,” Navratilova says with a laugh. When Evert was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021, less than two years after losing her sister to the disease, “I knew at any time of the day, night, Martina would fly across the country if I needed her,” Evert says.
And when Evert shared the news that she was having a preventive double mastectomy in 2022, “I started crying,” says Navratilova, who had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Despite Navratilova's fierce on-court persona, “she's mush—very, very sweet,” Evert says.
In the shock of that moment, Navratilova grabbed her throat — and felt a lump. She was soon diagnosed with throat and breast cancer and began chemo. “Whenever I felt really down, there was a text or a call from Chris: ‘How are you? Thinking about you.' ”
Navratilova in the hospital with her dog, Lulu from a scene in the Netflix documentary Chris & Martina: The Final SetCredit: Courtesy of Netfli
And then, after Navratilova finished her treatment in 2023, Evert learned her cancer had returned. Navratilova showed up at Evert's Florida home with homemade soup and a fighter's mentality.
“I always say if I was ever going to be in the trenches with someone during something like this, it would be Martina, because she's so fricking tough. She's mushy but she looks at things straight on: ‘This is what it is. I'm going to attack it.' You'd never want a friend to have cancer with you, but it's comforting that somebody understands what you're going through.”
Evert with Navratilova bringing homemade soup to Evert's Florida home in 2023Credit: Chrissie Evert/X
Navratilova is now cancer-free, while Evert said in a June 25 Instagram post that she is going to "stay optimistic and determined as I continue to fight this battle."
Both say that despite the pain and difficulty of cancer, they've grown from the experience.
“I still flare up, but I let go so much easier,” says Navratilova. Adds Evert: “I take criticism much better, and little things like having a cup of coffee in the morning or going out in the sun and feeling the warmth are meaningful now. I think we're better people.”
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