CHRIS & MARTINA: THE FINAL SET – Review by April Neale
Netflix’s Chris & Martina: The Final Set is ostensibly about tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, but by the time the credits roll, it becomes something far more profound: a meditation on time, mortality, friendship, and the realization that the people who challenge us most may understand us better than anyone else.
At its heart, the documentary celebrates the essence of true sportsmanship. For decades, Evert and Navratilova battled fiercely for supremacy on the court, pushing each other to extraordinary heights and forever changing women’s tennis. Yet the film reveals that their greatest journey was not toward championships, rankings, or records, but toward understanding one another.
These two lionesses fought not only for titles but for their lives, their identities, their loves, and their place in history. As the years pass and both women confront cancer, loss, and the realities of aging, they come full circle, evolving from rivals into each other’s fiercest advocates and most trusted confidantes.
What emerges is a remarkable story of sisterhood. Beneath the trophies and headlines are two women who endured different hardships yet walked strikingly similar paths. They shared the loneliness that accompanies greatness, the sacrifices demanded by ambition, and the burden of living under the public gaze.
Director Rebecca Gitlitz wisely avoids creating a conventional sports documentary built solely around trophies and statistics. Those achievements are certainly here, but the film’s emotional power comes from what happened after the matches ended.
For decades, Evert and Navratilova were cast as opposites. Evert was America’s sweetheart, the poised and polished “Ice Maiden” whose cool demeanor made her a fan favorite. Navratilova was the outsider, a defector from communist Czechoslovakia who left behind her homeland and family in pursuit of freedom and opportunity. While Evert enjoyed the adoration of American audiences, Navratilova often found herself battling not only her opponent across the net but public perception itself.
The documentary poignantly explores the loneliness of Navratilova’s journey. She sacrificed everything familiar to build a new life and career, yet despite becoming one of the greatest athletes in history, she often remained on the outside looking in. There is a quiet sadness in realizing that no matter how many championships she won, she was rarely the crowd favorite when facing Evert.
Yet The Final Set never paints either woman as having it easier than the other.
Evert, beloved by fans and the media, carried the crushing burden of expectations. Her image became a brand, her composure a requirement. The film reveals how the pressure to remain on top, and to remain Chris Evert at all times, came with its own emotional cost.
What emerges is a portrait of two women who appeared vastly different but were actually walking remarkably similar paths. Both experienced isolation. Both endured extraordinary pressure. Both sacrificed pieces of themselves in pursuit of greatness. Both paid prices invisible to those watching from the stands.
The documentary’s central revelation is that their rivalry was never simply about winning. In many ways, they became mirrors for one another.
Each woman pushed the other to evolve, improve, and confront her own limitations. Without Evert, Navratilova may never have transformed herself into the fitness pioneer who redefined women’s tennis. Without Navratilova, Evert may never have reached the extraordinary heights that cemented her legacy. Their rivalry sharpened them, challenged them, and ultimately shaped them.
But as the years pass, the film asks a deeper question: What happens when the battles that once seemed all-consuming no longer matter? The answer arrives through life’s most humbling realities. Cancer diagnoses, aging, loss, and the recognition that time is finite forced both women to reassess what truly mattered. The rankings disappeared. The trophies collected dust. The old grudges lost their significance. What remained was a bond forged through decades of shared experience.
Some of the documentary’s most moving moments occur as Evert and Navratilova reflect on their health struggles and their renewed friendship. There is an unmistakable sense that surviving serious illness stripped away the noise and revealed something neither fully appreciated in their younger years: the person on the other side of the net wasn’t merely a rival. She was one of the few people on Earth who truly understood the journey.
The film becomes a reminder that life is painfully short. The goals that consume us, the professional competitions that define entire chapters of our lives, eventually recede. What endures are the relationships, the shared experiences, and the people who witnessed our struggles firsthand.
By the final act, Chris & Martina: The Final Set is less about tennis than it is about grace. It is about recognizing the humanity in someone you’ve spent years trying to defeat. It is about understanding that rivals can become friends, and that sometimes the person who pushed you hardest was also the person who helped make you who you are.
In the end, The Final Set offers viewers something far more meaningful than a sports documentary. It is a reflection on what truly matters in life, and what does not. It reminds us that time is precious, grudges are heavy, and the people we spend years competing against may ultimately become the people who understand us best. The victories fade, the rankings disappear, but compassion, friendship, and shared experience endure.
That may be the most important lesson Chris and Martina have to teach us.
Instead, the documentary argues something far more meaningful: that their greatest achievement may have been finding their way back to each other after a lifetime spent competing. Even viewers who have never watched a tennis match will find themselves moved by its universal message: life is short, and sometimes our fiercest competitors become our most valuable companions.
