Not enough credit goes to female tennis players from the ‘70s and ‘80s for shaping the discourse in our world. Staunch advocates for multiple issues, this generation of players always seemed to be battling much more than their on-court opponents. It began with a small contingent of players led by Billie Jean King, who demanded equal pay in Grand Slam (GS) tournaments shortly after they had been granted ‘professional’ status (they were considered amateurs before). The initiative culminated in the historic ‘Battle of the Sexes’, where King beat former player/compulsive gambler Bobby Riggs, thereby convincing even King’s most hardened critics about the ‘seriousness’ of the women’s tour.It is chronicled superbly in Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff’s Give me the ball!, centered on King’s professional, social and personal life, having premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2026 earlier this year.Its spiritual successor – Netflix’s Chris & Martina: The Final Set, follows Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s singular rivalry. Directed by Rebecca Gitlitz, the film dives deeper into a story I had read in a 2023 piece written by Sally Jenkins for The Washington Post. It’s such an incredible arc between two sworn competitors of their time that it almost sounds made up.Delves beyond just the on-court battlesIf I had seen this chain of events between what went down in Evert and Navratilova’s mercurial relationship over five decades in a screenplay, I would have dismissed it as a cloying, flight of fancy. And yet, to the credit of Gitlitz’s film (like most ‘good’ films) it delves not just into the on-court battles, but also the aftershocks felt outside the tennis arenas. Later, it also finds the two star athletes staring death in the face, after Evert and Navratilova were diagnosed with cancer a few months apart in 2023.It’s quite something seeing two athletes start as friends, becoming the thorn in each other’s lives, turning into cold, respectful colleagues, and then finally bonding as comrades locked in a battle against a rival neither of them can see. Gitlitz’s film knows the joy and brutality of an iconic rivalry like this.The film introduces Evert first, in the early 1970s. A petite 18-year-old from Florida, Evert was a star almost instantly when she turned pro in 1972. In an era dominated by Billie Jean King and Margaret Court among others, Evert immediately made her mark, winning her first GS by the age of 20. Her conventional ‘femininity’ and poise with which she carried herself, meant that endorsements, fans’ support would fly in through her window. On the other hand, Navratilova would debut a couple of years after Evert, landing from the (erstwhile) Czechoslovakia.They are friends at first, with Evert playing the role of Navratilova’s ‘senior’ colleague. They’re about the same age, and play with radically opposite styles. Evert is a right-hander, Navratilova is a leftie. Evert plays from the baseline, while Navratilova prefers serving and volleying (as was the convention back then). They play doubles together, win two Grand Slams.But once Evert senses the ‘junior’ becoming familiar with her style and catching up, they stop. It’s a key decision that dictates the dynamic between the two, for years to come. It’s a cultural gap where Evert’s cold American professionalism prevails over Navratilova’s East European values; where the group always comes before the individual.Gitlitz’s film covers remarkable ground in its 97-minute duration, recounting Navratilova’s defection to America, two years after she began playing tennis professionally. How the decision mentally affected her, considering it separated her from her parents, younger sister, and how she became incredibly lonely in those years. Similarly, Evert, after carefully distancing herself from her peers, was overcome with depression in the mid 70s. Despite playing her best, Evert recounts going to her hotel room after winning the Wimbledon, after which she collapses to the ground and sobs.The narrative flits between the past and the present, where they’re both grappling with the aftermath of being diagnosed with cancer. After spending a relatively healthy life, Navratilova was diagnosed with Breast and Throat cancer. She undergoes extensive chemotherapy (she says she did 35 sessions, one after the other). A few months before Navratilova’s diagnosis, Evert was found to have stage-one Ovarian cancer.She had just lost her sister to the illness a few months before, in 2020. When the film begins, Evert is told her cancer is back, even after extensive therapy. Meanwhile, Navratilova is keeping her fingers crossed after completing her treatment, praying to the almighty that it doesn’t return (a possibility for many).One thing I genuinely enjoyed about Gitlitz’s film is how neither of the two pull their punches while talking about their past. Especially, when Navratilova’s fitness picks up pace in the ‘80s, after she gets involved with basketball player Nancy Lieberman.A story spanning several decadesThe head-to-head in 1978 is 20-5 in Evert’s favour, but tilts in Navratilova’s favour over the years, reaching 30-30 by 1984. With a mythic 7% body/fat percentage, while Navratilova is inhabiting a higher plane, Evert trains her body to the limit – and beats Navratilova two more times. As Evert recounts, those two wins are something she cherishes more than all peaks her career had previously seen.Their dynamic softens as both players age, and are able to compartmentalise their frustration with their own game, without necessarily projecting it on their opponent. Evert becomes more humble and forgiving towards herself and others. Similarly Navratilova reaches over the fence to invite Evert on a Fed Cup team (as the world number 1 at the time). Evert accepts, and the duo travel to Prague for it, where she meets the family and acquaintances of the local star. As Evert says in the film, seeing Navratilova in her natural habitat, humanised her in Evert’s eyes.In one of the starkest scenes, we see 70-year-old Chrissy Evert getting her head shaved by her son, around when chemo has restarted. After all the archival footage of her glory years, I think it’s this image that became the essence for me. Two stars, who had spent their lives weighing each and every decision for the sake of their careers, being thrown this curveball in the later part. And how they overcame it, with discipline and fortitude, just like they’d overcome everything else.However, this could have easily gone anywhere. To see the two icons at their most frail and vulnerable – and then see them rediscover their camaraderie, is why I was moved by Gitlitz’s film. After playing a sport where there are no draws, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova finally found one – in each other.‘Chris & Martina: The Final Set’ is streaming on Netflix