LONDON (AP) — Tuesday marked Martina Navratilova’s comeback to television work at Tennis Channel, where she will cover the Miami Open. Her return comes less than three months after she disclosed that she had throat and breast cancer.
“It’s so good to be here again… “I’m really thrilled to be here,” said the player who had won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “I am very ecstatic to be employed. What percentage of individuals are able to say that?
Navratilova, who is 66 years old, said that she lost 15 pounds and her sense of taste while undergoing treatment for cancer. Navratilova also reported that the medication left her unable to taste anything. Both the Australian Open in January and the BNP Paribas Open that took place this month were missed opportunities for her to appear on television.
She remarked as she wiped away her tears, “It brings you face to face with your mortality, number one because, in the beginning, I wasn’t sure whether it was curable, so that was terrible.” “It puts you face to face with your loss, number one.” “But once I was really a part of the program, things were a little bit simpler emotionally, while they became more challenging physically… But I’m still standing.”
During an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan that aired later on Tuesday, Martina Navratilova said that she was assured by her medical team that “as far as they know, I’m cancer-free,” and that after receiving some extra radiation therapy, she should be “okay to go.”
“I won’t be skipping any of my appointments, that much is for sure. About this matter, I want to work really hard. “But, the outlook is quite positive,” Navratilova remarked. “But, you can never tell. To put it simply, you can never tell.”
She also shared with Morgan that after receiving the news of her diagnosis, “I was in pure fear for three days, thinking I may not see next Christmas.” “and devised a list of activities that she wanted to do before she passed.
She was at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November when she discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck. A biopsy revealed that she was in the early stages of throat cancer. According to Navratilova, the discovery of the unrelated breast cancer in its early stage took place when she was receiving testing on her neck.
In 2010, Navratilova received a diagnosis of a noninvasive type of breast cancer and had a lumpectomy to treat the condition.
She finished her career with a total of 59 Grand Slam victories, including 31 in women’s doubles competition and 10 in mixed doubles competition. The most recent one was a mixed doubles title that she won with Bob Bryan in the 2006 U.S. Open. This victory came a month before she turned 50 years old.
Navratilova first announced her retirement from singles competition in 1994, after having won a record 167 solo championships and spending 331 weeks atop the WTA rankings. In the year 2000, she returned to the circuit to play doubles and sometimes participated in singles competitions.