Famed Wimbledon tennis great Martina Navratilova has announced that she is suffering from throat and breast cancer but is vowing to fight “with all I have got.”
Navratilova, who won Wimbledon an astonishing none times told fans that she was diagnosed after suffering a swollen lymph node in November.
“This double whammy is serious but still fixable,” the 66-year-old Navratilova said, according to the Daily Mail. “I’m hoping for a favorable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while, but I’ll fight with all I have got.”
Martina Navratilova attends the International Tennis Hall of Fame Legends Ball at Cipriani 42nd Street on September 10, 2022, in New York City. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Navratilova had already beaten cancer once when she was declared cancer-free after a bout with breast cancer in 2010.
A formal statement released by her representative claims that her outlook for recovery is “good.”
“Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with stage one throat cancer,” the statement says. “The prognosis is good and Martina will start her treatment this month.”
“The cancer type is HPV, and this particular type responds really well to treatment. Martina noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA finals in Fort Worth. When it didn’t go down, a biopsy was performed, the results came back as stage one throat cancer.”
“At the same time as Martina was undergoing the tests for the throat, a suspicious form was found in her breast, which was subsequently diagnosed as cancer, completely unrelated to the throat cancer,” the statement continued.
‘Both these cancers are in their early stages with great outcomes. Martina won’t be covering the Australian Open for Tennis Channel from their studio but hopes to be able to join in from time to time by Zoom.”
Navratilova has won 59 grand slam singles and doubles titles during her 40-year tennis career. She also won a record nine Wimbledon singles titles between 1978 and 1990, and 18 total Grand Slam titles, making her one of the most accomplished tennis pros in the game’s history.
Martina Navratilova gets the championship trophy after defeating Ons Jabeur of Tunisia during their Women’s Singles Final match on Day Thirteen of the 2022 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 10, 2022, in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Indeed, in 2006 at the age of 50, Navratilova won her last Grand Slam in mixed-doubles playing with Bob Bryan and became the oldest Grand Slam winner ever.
Since her retirement, she has often served as a sports commentator. And being one of the first openly gay tennis pros, she has advocated for gays. However, the tennis star is not an advocate of transgender athletes.
In 2020, for instance, Navratilova joined the outcry against the University of Pennsylvania for allowing male-born swimmer Lia Thomas to compete against natural-born women and take trophies away from actual female swimmers.
Navratilova also spoke against the Australian Open for banning t-shirts in support of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai who disappeared from public view after accusing a highly-placed Chinese official of rape.
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