Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova Talk Tennis Rivalry, Cancer Battles

It's great Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova had one of the biggest rivalries in sports histories and as it turns out one of the strongest friendship will now their story and their simultaneous battles with cancer are part of the new netflix documentary Chris and Martina the final set take a look. In the beginning it was fine for me to be friends with her because I was better than her. I knew that I needed to be more of a killer instinct. It was the lowest of lows in our relationship. This was the enemy and she's the one that had to be to get to number one. They do some damage to each other emotionally. If you want to be great at something you give up things. Sometimes it takes terrible things to happen for you to realize how you really feel about things. The goal is to get free of cancer. The second time really hit home how precious every moment is a precious life is. They're battling a war forever on the tennis court. And now in life they're trying to save each other. This is a life or death. There's no competition of whose cancer was worse. We're in the same boat. Off this is high, we're so happy all are here, I know it's hard to laugh about but no, I mean it must be kind of hard to rewatch some of that we're going to talk a lot about your cancer journeys, but first just how are y'all are how are you feeling. Good, I mean up speak on that a little bit. Shoulders. Cancer cancer free. So yeah, it's fixable the cancer is a whole different ballgame yes, but let's take this a step at a time, you know everybody is raving about this documentary take us back obviously you guys have one of the biggest rivalries I remember living in real time and watching the 2 of you when did you first become aware of one another. You I was we're both teenagers, which you I've known you a long time. Yeah, you were close with my grandparents. I didn't realize you were 16 years old when you first started 15. Playing pro oh yeah, look at that 15, I mean that's in in itself must have been 26 and I know I started playing at a very young age because I was top in the juniors. So I started playing, you know pro term is the 15 but I didn't get on the tour until probably full-time 1617 years old, but we saw we met each other at a tournament in Florida and I was I was I number one I was already number one and Martina was up and coming from you are also a teenager teenager, she's 2 years younger than me and she was from you know Czechoslovakia that time was a communist country. So you know she was she was very kind of closed mouth about everything. Yeah, they're suppressed over there. So she was playing backgammon with one of the the referees and you're playing back. I was playing. Minded me of this all I remember about Martina is was that she was very young, very vulnerable. You know very cute a little bit overweight and I don't mean to say that in a bad way, but you know not fit because she turned out to be the fittest ever athlete. Test player we've ever seen, but you know just bubbly and full so happy to be in America right, I'm very happy for Lauderdale. Yeah, this is home to my first tournament, I was still skinny then put on 20 pounds in 2 weeks as I was eating everything and said it was new. Pancakes and cereal which we did not have growing up wow and it's but the time I played Chris I had to buy new shorts because I put on so much weight. In Dallas, the second term and to buy shorts and I played her the 4th tournament of the tour and but first time I saw she was playing backgammon with this guy and she said hi to me I was so happy because I've been reading about her and worked on this magazine for years before which is why it's so interesting and that you guys were pitted against each other in the way that it happened, you know, yeah, I mean you were sort of media kind of pitted you against you are known as the American girl next door, Chrissy beauty and they really painted you Martina the media the American media as kind of a villain that must have been a really and it when you see the documentary you understand how isolating that was for you it was hard because I was alone. There was one time I put I was responsible, I mean the island finals that not the one that we get my. Anyway, but literally the columnist wrote good versus evil. I kid you not so it's my heart, it was just like really and I remember asking because what do you do with your family and I was answering and how come they like you so much more than me because you know, I think I'm a nice person, yeah, but you started is double I mean who saw Chris yeah, but it wasn't easy for you either. I mean I think one of the things that women will watch whether you're a professional athlete or not it's kind of the competition and what happens when women are pitted against other that to you guys. Yeah, so frustrating one of these days we're going to reclaim that the way they do that to us, but I can't imagine what it was like for you guys because again you're young you're isolated you're vulnerable. Well, you know what it's like I was look at it this way, I mean men have been competitive since the caveman I mean look at women were the nurturing and women to care of the children in the household and all of a sudden really sports didn't really come into fruition for women's sports until the 60's the 70's and so then you're pitted it out goes the nurturing and incomes the survival and you know maybe the selfishness and you know, maybe I mean I wanted to beat her she want to be me but that's why it was always tough to have a great friendship throughout our rivalry, we had our ups and downs. Yeah, I mean I I think when you watch this documentary you are number one and there was a moment you couldn't get off the floor because of depression because that you felt so alone and you were raised to be competitive which then isolated you from somebody who you I was encouraged it when my upbringing to have female friends for some reason females girls were always competition because all my friends play tennis and we did compete against each other in tournaments. So I won Wimbledon and I should have been on top of the world that came home to an empty hotel room and I remember lying down on the floor on the rug and there's some sort of force I couldn't get up. I was so depressed and I realize that it was because I didn't have any friends like gave up so much you pay a price to be great and then after that I I went home and I worked on my friendships. And there's another piece of this Martin at where there was you know the press was starting to to poke you about your sexuality and I can't even imagine the impact of that had on you at the time how do you reflect on that today and that season so it's such a different time back then yeah, always all you know if you're not going to be a lesbian females and they were asking are there any other tennis players and I'm like I'm not going to talk about anybody. So it was it was tricky and I couldn't come out as game until I got my citizenship because back then it was a it was a this that could get not give you citizenship totally dependent on the person that does the interview when you come for your final interview to get because I had my green card right away. So I had to kind of stay under the radar that way because if I come out and obviously if the person I want to approve my citizenship is not going to happen so that I finally got my citizenship and then this reporter outed me and I wasn't didn't want to come out because it was going to hurt the tour because the gene had a scandal. And the sponsors were threatening to pull out of women's tennis isn't the scandal says the police don't write about it and he next season. So it was never about me, I didn't care I never cared I never had an issue with it. It was the world that all the things that I did so at first the people accepted me and it was amazing 81 when I lost to Tracy Austin the finals, they kept clapping, I'm like what accepted. But then when I started winning them the tide turned and that's when she at one point was dominating and beating all of us so easily for like 2, 2, and a half years, so the crowds were always against her. Yeah, well and you had that same thing when you first came to the tour. Yeah, what you were young and you are killing you know you're really on the top of your game and women wouldn't even say hi to you know the for the women pros were really brutal to me in the locker and they wouldn't talk to me I think it's because they did the generation before us did all the work. Yeah, Jean King, yeah, I did all the work yes to build a tour. Yeah, you know, and and all of a sudden I get on the cover of Newsweek magazine and you know the women are here for and yeah, but Billie Jean is the one that that had talked with them got him in a room kind of yelled at him and said listen she's putting money in your pocket, yeah, and we need that next generation so she's chill out she's amazing okay, what we have much more to talk about with Chris and Martina we're going to talk about their cancer journeys and how their bond now is stronger than ever right after this is. Sometimes it takes terrible things to happen for you to realize how you really feel about things. The goal is to get free of cancer. The second time really hit home, how precious every moment is a precious life is. Battling a war forever on the tennis court. And now in life they're trying to save each other. So powerful we're back with tennis greats Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova who are the subjects of a new netflix documentary is called Chris and Martina the final set. Yeah, it's such a powerful the final said yeah, I know that the final. Y'all are here so I one of the things I loved about the documentary is it kind of makes this metaphor this analogy of what it's like to be a pro athlete and the fighting that you have to do to win and also what you all are doing to fight for your lives when you both got cancer diagnosis is within you know months of each other overlap, I mean there's 2 ways to look at it. The first is that as an athlete you feel like you have control over your own game, yes, and control of the match to some you know circumstance. With cancer, you have no control so you have to surrender. So what it did to me was I had to surrender to like a high higher power. Yeah, and just in lay it out there because I want to just feel stress and anxiety and all that all the time, but what it did do to help me was I think the resilience and I think fight the fight, you know being a competitor and I don't know just I think it is we have to come from come. Yeah, so you do and it just it just gets distilled to literally putting one foot in front of the other I was counting, you know had 35 proton treatments. So okay, there's one down 34 ago and when I got into single digits, I was excited because I could see the end. So you have a goal but it's so completely out of your control when you hurt yourself you do rehab, you know you'll be all right, yes, you can't rehab cancer so that that was difficult so you surrender and you just get on with it Jenna is it's humbling yeah, it's humbling because you are not special. Yeah, you know you are not doesn't matter if you're number one in the world something yeah, now you are just like everybody else and millions of people go through some even worse what we want to just put you in that feeling that you're you know one of many upset cancer doesn't care about red or blue rich or poor doesn't know who about how you guys feeling today, how are you. Good, I mean I personally with my cancer I have ovarian cancer I had ovarian cancer, but it came back to another time so I've had it twice and I have to since I've had twice I have to go every 3 week 3 months to get a CAT scan and I have to go monthly to get blood work is I'm still taking chemo pills and how have you relied on each other. During the last couple years well because we went through so much in real life in the competition we had so much empathy and trust and respect that never went away, even though when we're you know kind of ups and downs, but we knew we were there for each other no matter what so when Chris was diagnosed, I was one of the few first people that she called about that's the same the other way and then we're there for each other and it's like she knew what it's like twins, you know what I really really down there's Chris text or Chris calling so you know it's something I can do for you it's kind of crazy that we got it at the same time, I mean it's like we can't separate from. But how beautiful that you have each other and speaking of that really quickly I sat down and I immediately looked at your necklaces because they're absolutely gorgeous and you said it was a gift from the yeah, this is from Chris possible to give her all her jewelry. Speaking of jewelry on the guy in the relationship. Speaking of jewelry I have to be honest with you I did not know that the the phrase the coin tennis bracelet is yours. Yeah, I dropped it on in 1978 on center court and they had to they had to take time out of the match for me to collect it and pick it up as the headlines the next day, you know Chris ever dropped her tennis bracelet. So that was the start of these and you know, I never got any any royalties are from that. Until a couple years ago where the and Monica Kuzan and her jury company came to me and now we have a line of tennis she has one to show you want to give out tennis. Yeah, come back and let's do a jewelry segment. You know this is a powerful beautiful documentary and it shows the strength that both of you have collectively and and also you can't pit women against each other. It just and they failed miserably joined forces we got to join. Y'all are the best this is a beautiful documentary I hope you all watch it, it's called Chris and Martina it's not exactly the final set yeah, I know we come up with a title. I was one love that would have been good debuts on netflix Friday, June 26 goblets thank you all so much. Guys thanks for watching now come join us for all the fun every weekday on NBC and don't forget to take us along when you're on the go all of the today with Jen and Chanel podcast on Apple podcast spotify or wherever you listen.