I'LL FIGHT WITH ALL I'VE GOT

Double cancer diagnosis for tennis legend Martina Navratilova

- SIPHOKAZI ZAMA

CHALLENGES are nothing new to Martina Navratilova. She left her homeland to make a new life in America, she faced prejudice when she became one of the first major sports stars to come out as gay and she beat breast cancer in 2010.

So you could say that, at the age of 66, the 18-time Grand Slam winner was living her best life.

She and her wife, former beauty queen and reality show star Julia Lemigova, lived in a beautiful home in Miami with a menagerie of pets and Julia’s two daughters and Martina still travelled the world as a commentator at the biggest tennis tournaments.

Then came what she’s calling her “double whammy”: Martina was recently diagnosed with two types of cancer – throat and breast – and cancelled her trip to the Australian Open, which starts on 16 January.

“This is serious but still fixable and I’m hoping for a favourable outcome,” she said. “I’ll fight with all I have got.”

Martina discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck in November and went for tests – and it was during the testing process that her unrelated breast cancer was discovered.

“The [throat] cancer type is human papillomavirus (HPV) and this responds well to treatment,” Martina’s agent, Mary Greenham, says. “Both these cancers are in their early stages with great outcomes.”

In 2010 Martina was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, a non-invasive breast cancer confined to the milk ducts which was discovered during a routine mammogram. She had a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation and, despite describing cancer as “my personal 9/11”, said being a top-level athlete helped her fight the disease.