Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has two cancer diagnoses.
via People:
A spokesperson for the nine-time Wimbledon champion’s confirmed to PEOPLE that Navratilova has been diagnosed with both stage 1 throat and breast cancer, after seeking medical attention for an enlarged lymph node in her neck.
Navratilova, 66, told The Sunday Times she’s processing the dual diagnosis with hope for a positive outcome. “This double whammy is serious but still fixable,” she said. “I’m hoping for a favorable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while but I’ll fight with all I have got.”
The spokesperson added to PEOPLE, “The cancer type is HPV and this particular type responds really well to treatment,” later stating that the breast cancer is “completely unrelated to the throat cancer. Both of these cancers are in their early stages.”
Because of the recent diagnoses, “Martina won’t be covering the Aussie Open for Tennis Channel from their studio but hopes to be able to join in from time to time by Zoom,” they added.
The diagnoses come 13 years after Navratilova first recovered from breast cancer. She previously spoke on her first cancer diagnosis in an advocacy piece for the My Time Our Time campaign by Novartis. “You realize your life can change in a nanosecond, so that seize the day thing definitely applies,” she said.
Of her time in treatment, she said, “Being a positive person helped a lot, and surround yourself with positive people as well.”
At the time of her first breast cancer diagnosis, Navratilova told PEOPLE she “cried” upon receiving the news.”It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it’s completely out of my hands.”
In September 2010, she announced she was officially cancer free.
Navratilova became the first person to win Wimbeldon’s singles category nine times — beating a previous record of eight all-time championships with her win in 1990. She won the coveted tournament an additional 11 times in two doubles categories.
“What I’m most proud of is I won singles and doubles in the same event 80 times,” she said in the Novartis video.
Navratilova — who is a dual American-Czech citizen — married Julia Lemigova in 2014. The 50-year-old model is a Housewife on The Real Housewives of Miami, and Navratilova appears on the series occasionally as well.
We wish her and wife Julia the best.
