Tennis Great Martina Navratilova Hit With 'Double Whammy'

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been hit with a "double whammy": a diagnosis of throat and breast cancer. Both are early stage, and the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion will begin treatment this month. The BBC reports that Navratilova, 66, discovered an enlarged lymph node in her neck in November, and a biopsy confirmed it was stage 1 throat cancer. While those tests were underway, a lump was also found in her breast and determined to be unrelated early-stage breast cancer.

"The [throat] cancer type is HPV and this particular type responds really well to treatment," reads a statement from her rep, per the Guardian. "Both these cancers are in their early stages with great outcomes." Navratilova previously had breast cancer in 2010. Tennis.com reports it was a noninvasive cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ that she underwent a lumpectomy and radiation for. She said of her most recent diagnosis, "The double whammy is serious, but fixable, and I'm hoping for a favorable outcome. It's going to stink for a while, but I'll fight with all I have got." (More Martina Navratilova stories.)