Tennis legend and ESPN broadcaster, has revealed she was diagnosed with stage one ovarian cancer last month.
‘I wanted to share my stage one ovarian cancer diagnosis and the story behind it as a way to help others,’ the 67-year-old, who was the world number one women’s singles player seven times, wrote on Twitter.
‘I feel very lucky that they caught it early and expect positive results from my chemo plan.’
In an article on ESPN, Evert said a malignant tumor was discovered during a preventive hysterectomy early last month.
A second operation revealed that the cancer had been removed during the hysterectomy and had not spread.
Following chemotherapy, her doctor said there was a better than a 90 percent chance the cancer would never return.
‘I don’t remember being that happy in years!’ Evert said after getting the news from her doctor.
She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships and three doubles titles, and was the year-end world number one singles player seven times. Overall, Evert won 157 singles titles and 32 doubles titles.
Evert’s younger sister, former pro tennis player Jeanne Evert Dubin, died after a battle with ovarian cancer in 2020 at the age of 62. Dubin’s cancer had spread before it was detected.
When I go into chemo, she is my inspiration,’ Evert said in the article. ‘I’ll be thinking of her. And she’ll get me through it.’
Evert has been working as a broadcaster covering tennis for ESPN since retiring from the sport.
She will be covering the Australian Open remotely for the duration of her treatment.
