Chris Evert underwent exploratory surgery in Florida on Tuesday afternoon after a routine CT scan came back abnormal and suggested her ovarian cancer may be back. On Thursday, the 71-year-old said surgery had been recommended for further treatment and that she would stay optimistic and determined as she continues the fight.
That update landed just as interest was building around Chris & Martina: The Final Set, the documentary about Evert and Martina Navratilova that was scheduled for release on Netflix on Friday. Evert had been expected in London for Wimbledon and the All England Club was set to show the film on release night, making the timing of her medical update impossible to separate from the film’s launch.
The search around Evert is not only about what the scan means, but about what comes next. She later posted that the surgery would be followed by chemotherapy, though she said it was not clear yet what her recovery and treatment would look like. That leaves a major part of the picture unresolved even as she said she was grateful to her medical team, family, friends and others who reached out with support.
The documentary now carries a different emotional weight than the one that was first planned. Evert and Navratilova signed on for a film about the intertwining of their careers and lives, with the idea that both women would be past treatment and looking back from a steadier place. Instead, Evert’s possible recurrence has forced the story into the present tense, where the rivalry, friendship and shared history sit beside a very current medical battle.
That is what gives the film its edge now: it is no longer just a look at two tennis legends whose lives crossed for decades, but a portrait shaped by how quickly remission can give way to fear. Evert was in remission from ovarian cancer in the summer of 2023 after being diagnosed in January 2022, while Navratilova completed treatment for early-stage throat and breast cancers 11 months after Evert’s diagnosis. John Skipper said the project was meant to be more than a sports documentary, and Rebecca Gitlitz directed the film, but the most compelling unfinished chapter is Evert’s own next step after surgery.
