CHRIS EVERT & MARTINA NAVRATILOVA 'We Made Each Other Better'

FOR 15 YEARS THE TENNIS ICONS WAGED AN EPIC BATTLE FOR GREATNESS ON THE COURT, AND THEY’VE SHARED AN OFF-COURT FRIENDSHIP LIKE NO OTHER. THEN THEY TOOK ON CANCER—TOGETHER

- EILEEN FINAN,ALEX HUANG

Solid Ground "We just know the other one's there supporting and would be there if you need her in any shape or form," Navratilova (right) says of their bond.

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova are sitting side by side, musing about the passage of time with the ease of two old friends who finish each other’s sentences. “I think we’re better off than most 70-year-olds as far as fitness,” says Evert, 71. Adds Navratilova, 69: “The body is not the same, but it’s not too bad. I’m jealous of Chris’s flat stomach because mine is not. But we both still have good butts!”

More than 50 years after the tennis legends—and legendary rivals—faced off on court for the first time, gentle joking is about as combative as they get these days. “There’s no competition now,” says Evert. “We’re just supportive of each other.”

Even as they battled in 80 matches during the ’70s and ’80s, including 60 tournament finals, Evert and Navratilova forged a friendship through their extraordinary shared experience. “We were front and center for all the important events in each other’s lives,” says Evert. But in the past four and a half years, the pair, each of whom has won 18 Grand Slam titles, grew even closer as they shared a different kind of challenge: cancer. A new Netflix documentary, Chris & Martina: The Final Set, streaming now, gives an intimate look at their relationship over the years and how their bonds deepened by facing cancer together. “Knowing the other one’s there and knows what you feel like, it’s like you’re not alone anymore,” says Navratilova. “She was there for me, I was there for her.”