Tennis Legend Martina Navratilova Battling Breast & Throat Cancer

Tennis great Martina Navratilova announced that she has been diagnosed with stage one throat and breast cancer.

“The double whammy is serious but still fixable,” the 59-time Grand Slam champion said in the statement. “I’m hoping for a favorable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while, but I’ll fight with all I have got.”

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The 66-year-old released a statement on the Women’s Tennis Association website that said she will start treatment this month.

Navratilova discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA Finals in Texas in early November. She received a biopsy which led to the throat cancer diagnosis, and while undergoing throat tests, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Navratilova has previously battled breast cancer, undergoing a lumpectomy and radiation in 2010. She continued to play tennis just weeks after her surgery and commentated for the Tennis Channel on the same days as her radiation treatments.

“I think anybody that survives the communist system, they’re pretty tough,” the Czech-American said about her first diagnosis in 2010. “And then being gay on top of that, that wasn’t helpful. As they say, that which does not kill you makes you stronger, so I am pretty strong.”

Navratilova officially retired from playing singles in 1994 and still holds the WTA Tour’s record of 167 titles. She was set to cover the Australian Open later this month but said she now hopes to join by Zoom instead.