Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova says she is “okay” now after cancer treatments

ROME (AP) Martina Navratilovas is doing well after being diagnosed with throat and breast cancer.

I’ve been through a very difficult year, but now I’m fine, the 18-time Grand Slam champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame said at the Italian Open on Sunday after receiving the Racchetta dOro (golden racket) award for his contribution to Sports.

Navratilova, 66, said in January that her prognosis was good and that she planned to start treatment this month. She then said she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and a biopsy showed early stage throat cancer.

While Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, an unrelated, early-stage breast cancer was found.

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Navratilova returned to her job as a TV analyst for the Tennis Channel in March, when she told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan in an interview with doctors that they knew of no cancer and she should be good to go after additional radiation therapy.

Navratilova gave her acceptance speech in Italian to the Campo Centrale crowd.

Tennis gave me a surprising life, for which I am very grateful, he said. I always tried to give something back while playing and also in retirement.

Navratilova was a four-time singles runner-up at the Foro Italico and a three-time singles champion, her last Rome title coming in 2003 with partner Svetlana Kuznetsova at the age of 46.

She won a total of 59 Grand Slam titles, including 31 in women’s doubles and 10 in mixed doubles. The last was the mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan at the 2006 US Open, a month before his 50th birthday.

Navratilova originally retired in 1994 after a record 167 singles titles and 331 weeks at No. 1 in the WTA rankings. He returned to the tour to play doubles in 2000 and occasionally competed in singles as well.