Serena Williams says she had a benign gill cyst “the size of a small grapefruit” removed from her neck and “everything is fine.”
On Wednesday, the retired tennis star, who turned 43 last month, said on social media that she had found a lump in her neck in May and had an MRI examination. She initially opted not to have surgery after being told it wasn’t necessary, but the cyst “kept growing.”
After more tests, including a biopsy that came back negative for cancer, her doctors said she needed to undergo a procedure.
Williams posted a video of himself in the hospital and wrote: “So it’s me who removes it. I am so grateful, and luckily everything went well, and most importantly I am healthy.”
In a separate post, she said she is “still recovering but getting better. Health always comes first.” She also said she missed Rafael Nadal’s retirement while undergoing treatment for the cyst.
Williams said she was “evolving” away from professional tennis shortly before the 2022 US Open. She never used the word “retirement” but has not competed in a tournament since.
She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by a woman in the sport’s professional era, and another 14 in doubles with her older sister Venus. Serena spent more than 300 weeks at No. 1 in the WTA rankings and collected four Olympic gold medals.