Martina Navratilova has opened up about her emotionally battle with cancer and how her tennis family and friends gathered around her after her shock diagnosis.
The tennis legend revealed she was left in tears after realizing she might have a tumor as doctors took samples from her chest in an interview on Talk TV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored tonight.
The 59-time Grand Slam winner described her battle with the disease as the “hardest” she’s ever had to endure and said she sometimes feared she wouldn’t be able to see her next Christmas.
The 66-year-old revealed she was overwhelmed by the support from the likes of Jimmy Connors, Sue Barker and her great rival Chris Evert, adding that the past few months have brought her and wife Julia ‘closer together’.
However, she has now confirmed that she is completely free of the disease after her battle, saying ‘quitting is just not in my DNA’ and burst into tears as she recalled the moment she rang the hospital bell to indicate that she was cancer free. .
Martina Navratoliva broke down when she revealed the impact her double cancer diagnosis had had on her life
The tennis legend is pictured with her wife Julia Lemigova (left) and Talk TV host Piers Morgan (center)
The tennis star, who had a career spanning four decades, announced early this year that she had been diagnosed with cancer, sparking an avalanche of support.
She confirmed that her friends in the tennis world sent her songs and personalized messages to help her battle the disease.
Among them were 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 stuff when Mary [my agent] sent it to me first I just started crying and I’m crying now. God, I’m such a softie.
‘I couldn’t read it [all] because I would definitely cry my eyes out, so I read a little piece of what everyone wrote day by day because it was so moving.
“What they said to me personally outside of the song was so meaningful. You only realize how much you mean to people when they do something like that.’
She added that the experience had brought her and her wife, Julia Lemigova, “closer together” and that her wife was “completely” involved.
She told Morgan, “There was a look on Julia’s face I’d never seen before, because she was scared. We were both scared.’
Lemigova said, “We’ve kind of reconnected, reconnected, and there’s been a reevaluation of values and what’s important and what we want to do.”
Navratilova had previously beaten breast cancer in 2010, but said she feared she wouldn’t 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, with tests later confirming she had both 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 find out it’s throat cancer, I think I could die, but I find out it’s very treatable.
“Then they found the right breast, and when I had the right breast biopsy, the doctor said, ‘this doesn’t look good.’
“When she said I was like, ‘Great, I have another cancer.’
“Then I started crying on the table while she was still there poking at me to get monsters out of my breasts. I’m like ‘great, I have two cancers at the same time that are unrelated’.
‘Who does that? Who has two cancers at the same time? I feel like I’ve never been an underachiever, but this is getting ridiculous.”
After being diagnosed in early December last year, she said: “[I’m thinking] I’ll see this Christmas, but maybe not next.”
During her playing career, the Czech-born player dominated women’s tennis with Chris Evert (pictured together at Wimbledon in 1978)
Navratilova, pictured with her wife and former Russian model, Julia Lemigova (left), has had a colorful life off the field
Navratilova, pictured here in 2019, said she told herself to stop complaining about her treatment after seeing children with cancer at the clinic
Navratilova, however, showed the spirit that led her to success on the tennis court, saying defiantly, ‘Giving up, giving in, quitting – that’s just not an option for me. Go ahead.’
She added, “Quitting is just not in my DNA.”
Fortunately, doctors told Navratilova that her cancer was “extremely treatable.”
She said during the treatment, which took place while wearing a specially fitted mask, she was moved to tears when nurses played Elton John’s I’m Still Standing while she 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 star told Morgan she started writing her bucket list after being diagnosed.
She said, “This might sound super shallow, but I was like, okay, ‘what kick ass car do I really want to drive when I’m only alive for a year?'”
But now the tennis commentator will have more time than she feared after overcoming the disease following a grueling combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and proton therapy.
The 66-year-old, pictured here with the Wimbledon trophy in 1990, was diagnosed with twins in December
The athlete, pictured here at Wimbledon in 1990, said she wrote a bucket list after her most recent cancer diagnosis
Navratilova, pictured here with the Wimbledon winner’s plate, said the treatment was the toughest she’d ever done
In the interview, which will include a video of Navratilova ringing the doorbell at the hospital to signal she was safe, 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 old being treated for cancer at the same clinic.
Navratilova said she was joined during her treatment by her dog Lulu, whom she “smuggled” into the clinic.
“I didn’t know if they allowed dogs and I didn’t want to ask in case they said ‘no, it’s contraband.’
“During one of those treatments, she stuck her nose through the doggy bag and the nurse said, ‘Oh, what a cute dog!’
“So that’s when I knew dogs were okay.”
However, the treatment caused priorities in her life to become sharp as she confirmed that plans to adopt a child with her wife Julia Lemigova had to be put on hold.
She said: “We thought about adopting, but that’s definitely been put on hold and I don’t think it’s going to happen.
“I think it’s just too complicated and the energy, I only have so much right now.”
She added that adoption was “a nice thought for a while, but I think it sharpened it.”
“I’m not really the youngest anymore and I don’t want to be the grandmother on the playground,” she said, adding, “Forget that part, there’s just not enough room I guess 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 married in 2015 after nine years together.
In 2012, Martina said motherhood had changed her life and she needed to travel less to spend more time with her family.
Addressing the sensitive issue of motherhood at the time, presenter Kirsty Young said many high-profile gay couples had children, before asking, “Would you like to have kids, or did that coincide with your grand slam years?” ‘
Martina replied, “Pretty much, those years are over, I’m well into menopause now, so that ship has sailed!”
However, she added, “I never really got the chance to have a child, but I’m in a relationship with my partner now and she has two girls, so I’m a parent now.”
Martina said about motherhood: ‘It’s hard, two girls, but it’s fun, it’s great.’