Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with early stage throat and breast cancer, she said Monday.
In an interview with The Times, the 18-time Grand Slam winner said she has been diagnosed with Stage 1 throat cancer and early-stage breast cancer. Navratilova, who discovered a lump in her neck two months ago, will begin treatment this month.
“This double whammy is serious but still fixable,” Navratilova told The Times. “I’m hoping for a favorable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while but I’ll fight with all I have got.”
Navratilova, 66, is not expected to travel to the Australian Open for her duties with the Tennis Channel.
This will be Navratilova’s second bout with breast cancer, after successfully beating the non-invasive disease in 2010.
Her throat cancer is HPV, which responds well to treatment, a representative told The Times in a statement.
“Martina noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA finals in Fort Worth,” the statement said. “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 went on.
Navratilova has nine Wimbledon singles championships to her name. Her 18 Grand Slam titles overall ties her with Chris Evert for the third-most championships in the Open era, behind Serena Williams (23) and Steffi Graf (22).
–Field Level Media