Tennis legend Martina Navratilova will miss this 12 months’s Australian Open after receiving a shock most cancers prognosis.
The 59-times singles and doubles grand slam champion was resulting from journey to Melbourne as a part of the Tennis Channel world commentary group however has pulled out to begin most cancers remedy in New York subsequent week.
Navratilova says she is hoping for a “beneficial consequence” after being identified with breast and throat most cancers.
The 66-year-old Czechoslovakia-born naturalised American instructed Tennis.com in regards to the prognosis however added they had been each treatable.
It’s not the primary time the 18-times Grand Slam singles champion has been identified with most cancers — in 2010 she had breast most cancers however was assessed as being clear six months later.
“The double whammy is severe, however fixable, and I’m hoping for a beneficial consequence,” she stated.
“It’s going to stink for some time, however I’ll struggle with all I’ve bought.”
Navratilova seen an enlarged lymph node in her neck throughout November’s WTA Finals in Fort Price, Texas.
“When it didn’t go down, a biopsy was carried out, the outcomes got here again as stage one throat most cancers,” her agent stated.
Throughout the checks, a lump was additionally found in her breast, which was later identified as an unrelated most cancers.
“The prognosis is nice and Martina will begin her remedy this month,” stated her agent.
“The most cancers kind is HPV (human papillomavirus) and this explicit kind responds rather well to remedy.
“Each these cancers are of their early levels with nice outcomes.” Navratilova’s remedy in New York has compelled her to desert plans to commentate on the Australian Open though she is going to seem once in a while remotely.
Chris Evert, Navratilova’s nice rival on the courts who turned her pal, revealed in January 2022 that she had ovarian most cancers however was declared to be in remission in Could.
As a participant, Navratilova introduced a brand new bodily dimension to girls’s tennis. Her highly effective serve and agility on the internet made her the dominant payer of her period as she picked up a complete of 59 Main titles — 31 doubles and 10 combined doubles including to her 18 singles titles.
Her file at Wimbledon is unparalleled, her 9 singles titles greater than anybody else — Roger Federer received eight males’s titles whereas Serena Williams received the ladies’s title seven occasions.
She additionally received seven girls’s doubles titles at Wimbledon in addition to 4 combined doubles, the final of which got here in 2003 when she was 46, making it 20 titles on the All England Membership.
Since her retirement she has grow to be one of many wisest and most sought-after pundits on the sport.
Away from the courts, she has grow to be an ardent defender of the LGBT trigger. In 2014, she married her longtime accomplice Julia Lemigova they usually dwell in Miami with their two daughters.
Initially revealed as Tennis legend Martina Navratilova going through ‘double whammy’ most cancers battle
