Martina Navratilova, 66, says she is ‘OK’ after being diagnosed with throat and breast cancer as she accepts the ‘Golden Racket’ award at the Italian Open
- Navratilova announced in January that she had been diagnosed with cancer in two places
- Since then, she has undergone treatment and has been cancer free since March
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Martina Navratilova is doing ‘OK’ after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer.
‘I’ve had a very difficult year but now I’m OK,’ the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame said at the Italian Open on Sunday after receiving the ‘Racchetta d’Oro’ (Golden Racket ) award for his contributions to sport.
The 66-year-old Navratilova said in January that her prognosis was good and that she would begin treatment that month.
She previously said she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and that a biopsy showed early stage throat cancer.
While Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, the unrelated, early-stage breast cancer was discovered.
Martina Navratilova says she is doing ‘OK’ following a breast and throat cancer diagnosis
Navratilova was at the Foro Italico in Rome to receive the Racchetta d’Oro award
Navratilova returned to her job as a TV analyst on the Tennis Channel in March, when in an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan, she told him that doctors had told her that, ‘as far as they know, I don’t have cancer,’ and she should is ‘good to go’ after a few more radiation treatments.
Navratilova made her acceptance speech in Italian to the Campo Centrale crowd.
‘Tennis has given me an amazing life for which I am very grateful,’ he said. ‘I always try to give something back when I play, and also in retirement.’
Navratilova is a four-time runner-up in singles at the Foro Italico and a three-time doubles champion – with her last title in Rome in 2003 with partner Svetlana Kuznetsova at the age of 46.
Navratilova made her acceptance speech in Italian to the Campo Centrale crowd
Navratilova returned to her job as a TV commentator and said she was cancer free
She won 59 Grand Slam titles overall, including 31 in women’s doubles and 10 in mixed doubles.
The last was the mixed doubles championship with Bob Bryan at the 2006 US Open, a month shy of his 50th birthday.
Navratilova originally retired in 1994, after a record 167 singles titles and 331 weeks at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
He returned to the tour to play doubles in 2000 and occasionally competes in singles as well.
