Martina Navratilova has opened up emotionally about her battle with cancer and how her family and tennis friends rallied around her after her shock diagnosis.
The tennis legend revealed that she had been left in tears after realizing she might have a tumor while doctors were taking samples from her breast in an interview on Talk TV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored tonight.
Describing her battle with illness as “the hardest thing” she’s ever had to go through, the 59-time Grand Slam winner said there were times when she feared she wouldn’t see next Christmas.
The 66-year-old revealed she was overwhelmed with support from the likes of Jimmy Connors, Sue Barker and longtime rival Chris Evert, adding that the past few months have brought her and her wife Julia closer.
However, he has now confirmed that he is free of the disease after his fight, saying that “quitting is just not in my DNA” and breaking down in tears as he recalls the moment he rang a bell at the hospital to indicate that he was cancer free. .
Martina Navratoliva broke down when she revealed the impact her double cancer diagnosis had on her life
The tennis legend pictured with his wife Julia Lemigova (left) and Talk TV presenter Piers Morgan (centre)
The tennis star, who had a career spanning four decades, announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year, prompting an outpouring of support.
She confirmed that her friends in the world of tennis sent her personalized songs and messages to help her through the battle against the disease.
They included Lindsay Davenport, Clare Balding, Billie Jean King, Sue Barker, Pam Shriver, and her great rival Chris Evert, who sent her Lean On Me by Bill Withers.
Navratilova said: “I couldn’t even read that, when Mary (my agent) first sent it to me, I started crying and now I’m crying.” God, I’m so soft.
“I couldn’t read it (all of it) because I would definitely be crying my eyes out, so one day at a time I read a little bit of what everyone wrote because it was so moving.”
“What they said to me personally outside of the song was very significant. You don’t realize how much you mean to people until they do something like that.
He added that the experience had brought her and his wife, Julia Lemigova, “closer” and that his wife was there “all the time.”
She told Morgan, “There was a look on Julia’s face that I had never seen before, because she was scared.” We were both scared.
Lemigova said: “We got back together, we reconnected and a reassessment of values happened and what’s important and what we want to do.”
Navratilova had previously beaten breast cancer in 2010, but said she feared she might not see Christmas 2023 after it returned.
She confirmed she was diagnosed after doctors found an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA finals in Fort Worth in November, and tests later confirmed she had breast and throat cancer.
The tennis legend emotionally revealed that she cried after realizing she had breast cancer for the second time.
She said: ‘I found out it’s throat cancer, I think I might be dying, but I found it’s very treatable.
“Then they found the right breast and when they did the biopsy on the right breast, the doctor was like ‘this doesn’t look very good.'”
‘When she said that I was like ‘Great, I have another cancer.’
‘That’s when I started crying on the table while she was still poking around there to get samples of my breast. I’m like ‘great, I have two cancers at the same time that are not related’.
‘Who does that? Who has two cancers at the same time? I’m like I’ve never underperformed before, but this is getting ridiculous.
After being diagnosed early last December, she said: “(I’m thinking) I’ll see this Christmas, but maybe not next Christmas.”
During her playing career, the Czech-born player dominated women’s tennis with Chris Evert (pictured together at Wimbledon in 1978)
Navratilova, pictured with his wife and former Russian model Julia Lemigova (left), has had a colorful life off the court.
Navratilova, pictured here in 2019, said she told herself to stop complaining about her treatment after seeing children with cancer at the clinic.
However, displaying the spirit that guided her to success on the tennis court, Navratilova defiantly said: “Give up, give up, stop, that’s not an option for me.” Keep going.
She added: “Quitting is just not in my DNA.”
Fortunately, doctors informed Navratilova that her cancer was “extremely treatable.”
He said that during treatment, which took place while wearing a specially tight-fitting mask, he was moved to tears when nurses played Elton John’s I’m Still Standing while he was in hospital.
The singer had dedicated the song to the Czech-born athlete at a concert in Paris during the French Open in the 1980s.
Now a naturalized American, the tennis player told Morgan that she began writing her wish list after the diagnosis.
She said: ‘This may sound very superficial, but I was like, okay, ‘What kicker car do I really want to drive if I live like a year?’
But now the tennis commentator will have more time than she feared after beating the disease after a grueling combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and proton therapy.
The 66-year-old, pictured here holding the Wimbledon trophy in 1990, received the double diagnosis in December.
The athlete, pictured here at Wimbledon in 1990, said she wrote a wish list after her most recent cancer diagnosis.
Navratilova, pictured here holding the Wimbledon winners’ plate, said the deal was the toughest thing she had ever done in her life.
In the interview, which will feature a video of Navratilova ringing a bell at the hospital to indicate all was well, Navratilova says it was the hardest thing she’s ever done.
However, she added that she told herself to “suck it up” after seeing children as young as six months being treated for cancer at the same clinic.
Navratilova said her pet dog, Lulu, whom she “smuggled” into the clinic accompanied her during her treatment.
I didn’t know if they allowed dogs and I didn’t want to ask in case they said ‘no, it’s contraband’.
“In one of those treatments, he stuck his nose through the dog’s bag and the nurse said ‘oh, what a cute dog!
“That’s when I knew the dogs were okay.”
However, the treatment highlighted his life priorities, as it confirmed that plans to adopt a child with his wife Julia Lemigova had to be put on hold.
She said: “We were thinking about adopting, but that’s definitely on hold, and I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
“I think it’s too complicated and the energy, I only have a limit at the moment.”
He added that adoption “was a good thought for a while, but I think this has brought it to the fore.”
“I’m not the youngest anymore and I don’t want to be the grandma on the playground,” she stated, later adding, “Forget about that part, I think there’s not enough room for this to happen.”
The couple already have two daughters, Victoria, 21, and Emma, 17, from Julia’s previous relationship.
Navratilova first met Julia more than 20 years ago in a Parisian gay bar and they married in 2015 after nine years together.
In 2012, Martina said motherhood had changed her life and she had cut back on her travels to spend more time with her family.
Raising the sensitive subject of motherhood at the time, presenter Kirsty Young said that many high-profile gay couples have had children, before asking, “Would you have wanted children or did that coincide with your Grand Slam years?”
Martina responded: ‘More or less, well, those years are over, I’m already in menopause, so that ship has sailed!’
However, he added: “I never really had the opportunity to have a child, but now I’m in a relationship with my partner and she has two girls, so now I’m a father.”
About motherhood, Martina said: “It’s hard, two girls, but it’s fun, it’s incredible.”
