As soon as rivals on the tennis court docket, Martina Navratilova, left, and Chris Evert have turn into shut associates in retirement. They’re pictured above on the French Open in 1986.
Trevor Jones/Getty Photographs Europe
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Trevor Jones/Getty Photographs Europe
Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova had been probably the most profitable ladies’s tennis champions of their technology. Each had been 18-time Grand Slam match winners — and one another’s biggest rivals.
Evert, a Florida native, grew to become a tennis star in her teenagers. Navratilova was born in communist Czechoslovakia, and emerged as a participant after Evert was established. They first confronted off throughout a match in Akron, Ohio, in 1973, when Evert was 18, and Navratilova was 16. Evert gained, however Navratilova left an impression.
“I bear in mind pondering to myself, holy cow, when this younger lady will get into higher form, she goes to be a power to be reckoned with,” Evert says. “She had a lot expertise. Her palms had been fast, she had a giant first serve, she had a giant forehand, and he or she simply was so highly effective.”
Two years later, on the day she misplaced a semifinals match to Evert on the U.S. Open, Navratilova defected to the U.S. Within the years that adopted, her tennis sport improved. Although she and Evert had initially been pleasant, the friendship cooled as their rivalry heated up.
“Enjoying Chris was tough as a result of how will you not like Chris? What’s to not admire?” Navratilova says. “She was just like the epitome of cool.”
The brand new Netflix documentary Chris & Martina: The Closing Set tells the story of how Evert and Navratilova re-established their friendship and the way they each confronted most cancers in retirement. Evert was recognized with ovarian most cancers in 2021; Navratilova was recognized with throat and breast most cancers in 2022.
“I am unable to get away from her,” Evert jokes. “We had a 15-year profession, after which we received most cancers on the identical time. It truly is freaky, however I all the time say: If I need somebody to be within the trenches with me, it is Martina as a result of she has been so supportive and so understanding.”
Navratilova agrees: “We’ve got such a stage of belief that we all know no matter we are saying to one another, it stays there. We give one another one of the best recommendation we all know the right way to. And there’s no ulterior motive, no taking part in video games.”
On the time that this interview was taped, Evert and Navratilova had been each in remission from most cancers. However late final week, Evert disclosed she’d not too long ago been recognized with a recurrence of ovarian most cancers.
“We all know no matter we are saying to one another, it stays there,” Martina Navratilova says of her friendship with Chris Evert.
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Netflix
Interview highlights
On supporting one another by most cancers
Evert: There are loads of telephone calls between us. … I do not cook dinner, however Martina would bake bread for me, and her spouse Julia would cook dinner, make some hen soup. … I received loads of meals from Martina. She received a necklace from me.
Navratilova: I get jewellery from Chris, she will get meals from me.
Evert: Martina’s and my relationship — as a result of we have had one for 50 years — will not be the sort the place we’ve got to speak to one another every single day to keep up the closeness. I all the time knew she was there. She all the time knew I used to be there if we would have liked to speak, and that was that.
On the weak spot they skilled with most cancers
Navratilova: Chris’ prognosis and therapy was rather more life-threatening than mine, proportion clever, however my therapy was harder bodily. … I used to be in New York for seven weeks and I actually sat on a yoga mat, perhaps half an hour of the seven weeks, and did some stretching. I could not even do the down canine pose as a result of I might have fallen down. I had completely zero energy left.
Evert: The chemo kicked my butt, let’s put it that manner. … It left me very weak, very, very weak. After chemo I might have three or 4 days of intense nausea and I simply would really feel tingling in my physique and it simply wasn’t good. I did not have the power. To stroll six blocks was a giant deal for me. And it was international. You recognize, it felt prefer it wasn’t my physique, for certain.
On watching the previous footage of their matches collectively for the documentary
Navratilova: For me, it was enjoyable watching with Chris, as a result of we had completely different reactions to what occurred on the court docket. However what impressed me is how effectively we performed with these wood rackets. As a result of what? These rackets are usually not straightforward to play with. However you attempt to put your self in there bodily, what it was like, mentally, what it’s like. And it is like, “Oh, I ought to have gone down the road,” or, “I am unable to consider I missed that shot.” Or “Chris, you had such a fantastic move.” It was superb. So it was spectacular. … I want I may nonetheless have that six-pack, however anyhow.
Evert: I bear in mind feeling genuinely glad for her. I bear in mind it was her first Wimbledon. That is all the time been her dream since she defected. Her household could not be there to look at her. She was on their lonesome. And I simply was glad for it. And I knew that this was gonna be one in all many for her to win.
On defecting to the U.S. in 1975 when she was 18 years previous
Navratilova: I used to be thrilled to be within the States. I all the time beloved American automobiles. And once you ordered a ham sandwich, you bought, like, two inches of ham and two slices of bread. Whereas rising up, you had thick bread and one slice of ham. So I believed I used to be in heaven. And it was $2.30 for that sandwich. I nonetheless bear in mind it. I could not consider how a lot ham I used to be getting.
Lauren Krenzel and Nico Gonzalez Wisler produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey tailored it for the net.
