Horror health battle that united two of tennis' biggest rivals uncovered

The on-court rivalry between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova was the stuff of legends. Each tennis titan won 18 Grand Slam titles. But their fierce competition has been replaced by equally robust compassion, as they supported each other through the fight of their lives - against cancer. In a deeply moving new 90 minute documentary for Netflix, Chris & Martina: The Final Set, the pair speak candidly about their individual journeys fighting ovarian, breast and throat cancer, revealing how their friendship blossomed in adversity. Chris, 71, says: "When we got cancer together it really cemented our lasting friendship. Martina and I hung in there with each other, through the bad times and the good times. I think it is a testament to friendship. There is no going back. We are always going to be tight now." All-American Chris, from Florida, and Martina, who defected from communist Czechoslovakia, admit their battle for survival was tougher than any tennis match. Chris has been cancer free since July 2024, following her second bout of ovarian cancer. Martina, 69, was given the all clear from throat and breast cancer in March 2023. The champion, who previously fought breast cancer in 2010, says: "You feel like it is never going to pass. There's no competition of whose cancer was worse. We're in the same boat and we were there for each other. We are like siamese twins without being connected. "You don't ever know how much it is going to hit you one way or the other. You don't realise how much of a strain it is until it is not there anymore." Directed by two-time Emmy Award winner Rebecca Gitlitz, while the professional rivalry between the players in the 1970s and 1980s is covered, the documentary starts in summer 2023, when Martina visits New York for treatment after being diagnosed with stage one throat cancer and unrelated early-stage breast cancer. First noticing an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November 2022, a biopsy revealed Martina’s throat cancer. A lump was also discovered in her breast, which was later diagnosed as an unrelated cancer. Speaking on the way to her US specialist’s, Martina says: "I still get like PTSD being here.” Doctors are seen trying to make Martina smile at The David H Koch Center for Cancer in Manhattan, with one saying her short post-chemotherapy hair suits her. She replies: "I have been called ‘sir’ a few more times. I am nervous. I was diagnosed with breast cancer as well as throat cancer. I had surgery on my right breast and proton and chemo treatment on my throat. There are a lot of moving parts." Clutching her beloved dachshund Lulu as she has treatment, Martina adds: "When Chris told me she was having treatment, I started crying - not knowing that I had cancer at that moment. It is terrifying. It is the waiting game, to see if the cancer has completely gone. There is constant stress of cancer hanging over me." Meanwhile, Chris was diagnosed with stage one ovarian cancer in December 2021 - a year after losing her sister Jeanne to the disease, aged 62. Her initial diagnosis followed a preventative hysterectomy and fallopian tube removal. Then, after a recurrence in the pelvic region, she had further surgery and chemotherapy in late 2023. Removing a baseball cap in the documentary, showing she has lost her trademark blonde hair, she says: "My youngest sister died from ovarian cancer. It spreads so quickly. By the time she was diagnosed she was Stage four and it spread to every other organ in her body. "It was so painful to watch. Two years later, I get the call to go get tested. I have the same gene. I was diagnosed with stage one. If I had not been tested I would have been stage three or four. The second time really hit home how precious life is. I want to be around forever for my kids." Martina and Chris support each other - visiting one another’s houses in the US and watching old tennis matches together. One moving clip shows Chris going for intravenous chemo and telling how she has found spiritual faith, while fighting the disease. She says: "Sometimes it takes terrible things to happen to make you realise how to really feel about things. Spirituality is going to be important now. When you are struck with cancer it changes your mindset on life. You let go of the control." Martina agrees, adding: "Chemo knocks you out. It is a shock to the system in every way, emotional, physically mentally, but it beats you up. It is a strange feeling for an athlete to not be in control." Chris remembers first meeting Martina when she was just 15 and travelled to the US from Czechoslovakia to compete at a tournament in Florida in 1973. Friends until Chris realised Martina wanted to steal her crown, she says: "When I first met Martina she was in a bathing suit. "She was so real. In the beginning it was fine to be friends, as I was better than her. She was not in the best shape. But as time went on, we started practicing and I played doubles with her. In 1976 she was playing better and she knew me too well. I said to her ‘I can’t play doubles with you anymore. I have got to separate myself’. It was more important for me to be number one than to have great friends. It was all about tennis. Friendship was never encouraged." At first, Chris had the upper hand on the world tennis tour, winning nine of their first 10 matches. That changed when Martina became fanatical about fitness and training, catching her up. Martina says: "I was told to kick her ass! Every time I did weights, I thought of Chris. She was the enemy because she was number one and I was number two.” Their rivalry transformed tennis and took the women's game to new heights. Once dominating women’s tennis, they played 80 times between 1973 and 1988. Of the 80 matches, 60 came in finals and 14 came in Grand Slam finals. Martina won 36 of the 60 title matches, including 10 of the Grand Slam finals. The 1978 Wimbledon one was among the most memorable - with Martina coming from behind to win. Martina's three-set win at the 1981 Australian Open and Chris's triumph at the 1985 French Open, were also notable. From November 1975 until August 1987, either Chris or Martina held the No. 1 ranking in 592 of the 615 weeks. Chris held the top spot for 260 weeks in her career (fourth most of all-time), and Martina held it for 332 weeks (second most of all-time). They each finished as year-end World No. 1 seven times. Martina won 167 singles titles and 177 doubles titles, to Chris's 154 singles titles and 18 doubles titles. But Martina's nine Wimbledon titles are still the most of all-time. Chris's seven French Open titles remain the highest number in the women's game. Both agree that having cancer has given them a calmer outlook. Chris says: "When we were left alone in the locker room during those icy years we would not talk to each other. It was the lowest of lows in our relationship.” Married and divorced three times, Chris adds: “When you have cancer you rethink your priorities and they are my three boys and my grandson. People are my priority now." Martina adds: "You pick your spots more carefully as you realise how precious time is. But Chris, as hard as she seems from the outside, is really soft on the inside." While they are both fighting fit now, they are not planning a rematch. Martina laughs: "Playing tennis again is not on my bucket list. I would like to go skiing one more time with Chris and maybe do another Saturday Night Live sketch.” *Chris & Martina: The Final Set premieres on Netflix on Friday (June 26).