Tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with throat, breast cancer

Martina Navratilova. Pic/AFP

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has informed that she has been diagnosed with Stage 1 throat and breast cancer.

It is not the first time the 66-year-old will battle cancer having overcome the deadly disease earlier. The veteran tennis player was diagnosed with cancer for the first time in 2010 when she was 53.

"This double whammy is serious but still fixable. I'm hoping for a favorable outcome. It's going to stink for a while, but I'll fight with all have I got," said Martina in a statement as quoted by the WTA website.

The champion tennis player's resilience is well known having amassed 59 Grand Slam victories throughout the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles divisions.

She underwent testing after seeing an enlarged lymph node in her neck at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth back in November. Doctors found Stage 1 breast cancer initially but further examinations also led to the discovery of Stage 1 throat cancer.

However, doctors have found human papillomavirus (HPV), one of the more curable malignancies which increases Navratilova's chances of successfully overcoming cancer.

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The tennis legend will have to forfeit her plans of commentating in the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open which begins on January 16 but hopes to make a handful of virtual appearances through Zoom.

Her treatments, which will mostly take place in New York City, will start next week with an optimistic outlook.

The Czechoslovakia-born legend is without a doubt one of tennis' all-time greatest players. Navratilova began her professional career in 1975 and went on to have one of the longest careers of any athlete, continuing to win championships far into her 30s, 40s, and 50s. She retired in 2006 at the age of 50 and holds numerous records to her name.

Navratilova held the No 1 ranking in the world for 331 weeks, second only to Steffi Graf, who was No 1 for 377 weeks.

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