Chris Evert, co-founder of Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton and one of the most consistent champions in tennis history, is featured alongside Martina Navratilova in Chris & Martina: The Final Set, the new documentary released last week on Netflix.
The film revisits one of the greatest rivalries in sports history. Evert and Navratilova met 80 times between 1973 and 1988, including 14 Grand Slam finals. Both held the world No. 1 ranking. Both retired with 18 Grand Slam singles titles. And after 15 years of trying to beat each other, they became friends.
That rivalry offers more than nostalgia. For young tennis players, parents and coaches, it remains one of the clearest examples of how great competition can shape a player’s development.
A great rival forces improvement in ways practice alone cannot. Evert’s relentless consistency from the baseline pushed Navratilova to sharpen her attacking game and become even more dangerous at the net. Navratilova’s serve-and-volley pressure forced Evert to find passing shots and patterns sturdy enough to hold up against one of the sport’s most aggressive champions. Each player became the problem the other had to solve.
Photo credit: unknown, Florida Memory, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
That lesson applies at the junior level every day. Players often improve fastest when they train and compete against someone close enough in level to make them uncomfortable. A practice partner who is too easy to beat may build confidence, but a rival who exposes weaknesses creates growth. Drilling builds the foundation, but match play against players who can hurt you is where that foundation gets tested.
The Evert-Navratilova rivalry also shows that there is no single correct way to play winning tennis. Evert won with rhythm, depth, discipline and baseline control. Navratilova won with athleticism, aggression, net play and constant forward pressure. Their games looked completely different, yet both reached the top of the same sport at the same time.
For developing players, that matters. The goal should not be to force every junior into the same modern template. Some players are built to grind from the baseline. Others are natural attackers. Some win with patience. Others win by taking time away. The best development plan is the one that strengthens what a player naturally does well while improving the areas opponents will eventually test.
Perhaps the most important lesson is that respect does not mean going easy. Evert and Navratilova competed fiercely for 15 years. They did not protect each other’s feelings by holding back. They showed respect by bringing their best tennis, again and again, across Grand Slam finals and major moments.
Photo credit: Hans van Dijk for Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Young players sometimes confuse kindness with reduced effort. But on a tennis court, the highest respect you can show an opponent is to compete fully. Sportsmanship belongs in the handshake, in the body language, in fair line calls and in how a player handles wins and losses. Effort belongs in the tennis. Both can exist at the highest level.
Their rivalry also reminds players that a career is longer than any one match. Evert and Navratilova’s head-to-head finished 43-37 in Navratilova’s favor, close enough that a handful of matches could have changed the historical balance. At the time, every result mattered enormously. Looking back, each match became part of a much larger story.
Junior players can struggle with that perspective. A single loss can feel crushing. A single win can feel defining. But in the long run, every match is information. A loss shows what needs work. A win shows what is holding up. Neither one defines the player.
That may be the lasting message of Chris & Martina: The Final Set. The best rivalries are not built on hatred. They are built on respect for someone whose excellence demands your own. The best wins are earned against someone playing their best. The best losses become part of a longer story.
Decades after their final match, Evert and Navratilova remain connected not because they went easy on each other, but because they spent 15 years pushing each other toward greatness. For young players learning how to compete, that may be the most valuable lesson of all.
Documentary Trailer
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This article is a condensed version of the original, courtesy of Evert Tennis Academy. Learn more about the academy, Chris Evert’s founding story, mental conditioning, competitive tournament play and training programs at evertacademy.com.
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