Martina Navratilova offers cancer update in heartwarming US Open moment on Sky Sports

Martina Navratilova has revealed that she is still cancer-free after undergoing a health check (Image: GETTY)
Martina Navratilova has revealed that she is still cancer-free in a heartwarming moment at the US Open. The tennis legend, who is covering the action on Sky Sports, was diagnosed with throat and breast cancer in 2023 but announced last March that she was in remission.

Navratilova has faced cancer several times during her life and will be desperately hoping to avoid any further setbacks in her recovery. While covering the US Open on Tuesday, she confirmed that a yearly check-up showed no sign of the cancer returning. Asked how she was by Sky Sports host Gigi Salmon, Navratilova replied: “I’m great, thank you! Very nice to be here. Feeling a lot better this year than last year so all systems go. I just got here a couple of hours ago. I had my yearly check-up and it’s all clear, so a big relief yesterday.”

Navratilova underwent preventive radiation treatment after announcing last year that she had been declared cancer-free. At one point, she was being cared for by the same doctors as former rival Chris Evert, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022. The 67-year-old made the revelation during a candid interview with Piers Morgan, saying: “Same place, same people. Some of the same nurses were giving me Cisplatin and she was getting some other chemotherapy drug, but same place.

“We were ringing the same bell and I’m like: ‘This is the kind of competition we don’t really want’. But I must say, Chris has been just a star. She has supported me so much through this as I supported her a year ago, but little did I know that it was going to be reciprocated. She’s been great. “You have to be in game mode and so that’s where having been a champion athlete comes in pretty handy. I knew it was going to be hard but I didn’t realize it was going to be as hard as it really was.”

Navratilova also spoke about some of the hardships she faced during her treatment, including a dramatic period of weight loss as she struggled to eat properly. At times, she relied on Evert for emotional support in spite of their previous rivalry on the tennis court. “I love to eat and eating was the hardest part of this whole treatment,” she added. “I lost 15 pounds, not because I wanted to but because I just couldn’t get enough food in my body.

“The radiation, the proton therapy affects your throat and the mouth, and there is a lot going on and it started closing up. I couldn’t even yawn. Chris gave me this little necklace and I was wearing it for a while then I took it off and replaced it. “When Chris got sick, I put it back on. I’m like: ‘I’m not going to take this off until she gets well’. So, I never took it off. I finally had to take it off to put the mask on, to get the radiation I had to take this off, so I finally put it back on again today.”