LONDON — Martina Navratilova returned to television on the Tennis Channel for coverage of the Miami Open on Tuesday, less than three months after she had breast and throat cancer.
“It’s amazing to be back…excited to be here,” said the 18-time Grand Slam winner and Tennis Hall of Famer. “Happy to be working. how many people can say that?
The 66-year-old tennis player acknowledged that she lost her sense of taste due to the treatment and that she lost almost 7 kilograms of weight. She was not on television coverage of the Australian Open in January and Indian Wells this month.
“It brings you face to face with your mortality. First, because at the beginning I didn’t know if it was treatable,” she added. “But once the program started, it was easier emotionally, but difficult physically… But I’m still on my feet.”
In an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV scheduled to air on Tuesday, she acknowledged that doctors told her “as far as we know, you don’t have cancer anymore” and “that she’s ready” after additional radiation treatment.
According to The Sun newspaper, in the interview Navratilova assured that when she received the diagnosis, “I was in a panic for three days and feeling that I would not see another Christmas” and devised a wish list of things I wanted to do.
She noticed she had an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas in November and had a biopsy which showed the throat cancer. While they performed tests on her neck, she said they found that she had early stage breast cancer.
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In 2010 a non-invasive form of breast cancer was detected and a partial mastectomy was performed.
In total, she won 59 Grand Slam titles, including 31 in women’s doubles and 10 in mixed doubles. The last was her at the US Open in 2006 alongside Bob Bryan, a month before her 50th birthday.
Navratilova originally stepped away in 1994 after winning 167 singles titles and spending 331 weeks at number one in the WTA rankings. She returned to compete in doubles in 2000 and occasionally in singles tournaments.
