ESPN’s 30 for 30 Takes on Navratilova and Evert

Review of Unmatched Directed and Produced by

Lisa Lax and Nancy Sterm Winters

It was by accident that I got to watch this great sports documentary.  Considering that Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova won 36 combined singles Grand Slam titles and faced one another 80 times, their rivalry merits exploration on numbers alone.  Still, two things struck me while watching the documentary.  First, the public perceptions of each player were often the opposite of reality.  Evert was the strong willed competitor and Navratilova was often the soft-hearted emotional player.  No one ever accused Chris Evert of being soft, but Martina’s muscles and Slavic accent gave Cold War-era US fans the sense that she was tough and unfeeling.  Second, these two champions have true affection for one another.  This is remarkable given the number of losses each player handed to the other.