Martina Navratilova says she is doing well after cancer diagnosis

ROME – Martina Navratilova is going “OK” after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer.

“I’ve been through a very difficult year, but now it’s okay,” 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) for his contribution to the sport.

Navratilova said in January that her prognosis was good and that she would start treatment that month. The 66-year-old then said she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the WTA season finale in Fort Worth, Texas in November and a biopsy showed cancer throat at an early stage.

As Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, unrelated early-stage breast cancer was discovered.

Navratilova returned to work as a TV analyst at Tennis Channel in March, when in an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan she said doctors told her that “as far as they know, I haven’t cancer” and that she should be “good to go” after further radiation therapy.

Navratilova delivered her acceptance speech in Italian to the Campo Centrale crowd.

“Tennis has given me a surprising life for which I am very grateful,” she said. “I always tried to give something back when I was playing and also in retirement.”

Navratilova was a four-time runner-up in singles at Foro Italico and a three-time doubles champion – with her last title in Rome in 2003 with partner Svetlana Kuznetsova aged 46.

She has won 59 Grand Slam titles in total, including 31 in women’s doubles and 10 in mixed doubles. The last was a mixed doubles championship with Bob Bryan at the 2006 US Open, a month before his 50th birthday.

Navratilova originally retired in 1994, after a record 167 singles titles and 331 weeks at No. 1 in the WTA rankings. She returned to the tour to perform doubles in 2000 and also occasionally competed in singles.