ROME — Martina Navratilova is “okay” after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer.
The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer said after winning the Racchetta D’Oro award at the Italian Open on Sunday, “I had a very difficult year, but now I’m fine.” Told. Awarded (Golden Racket) for his contribution to the sport.
Navratilova said in January that she had a good prognosis and planned to start treatment in the same month. The 66-year-old noticed swollen lymph nodes in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and a biopsy revealed that her early pharynx had been removed. She said she found
An unrelated early-stage breast cancer was discovered during Navratilova’s throat examination, she said.
Navratilova returned to work as a television analyst for the Tennis Channel in March, but in an interview with Talk TV’s Piers Morgan, doctors told her, “As far as they know, I don’t have cancer.” said. She should be “okay” after additional radiation treatments.
Navratilova gave her acceptance speech in Italian to the crowd at the Campo Centrale.
“Tennis has given me an amazing life and I am very grateful for it,” she said. “I’ve always tried to give something back, both when I was playing and when I retired.”
Navratilova is a four-time singles runner-up and three-time doubles champion at the Foro Italico, but her last title in Rome came in 2003 at the age of 46 with partner Svetlana Kuznetsova.
She won 59 overall Grand Slam titles, including 31 in women’s doubles and 10 in mixed doubles. Her last was a mixed doubles victory with Bob Bryan at the 2006 US Open, a month before her 50th birthday.
Navratilova retired in 1994 after winning 167 singles titles and holding the WTA No. 1 ranking for 331 weeks. She returned to the tour in 2000 to play doubles and occasionally competed in singles.