Evert had a family history of cancer.
american tennis player Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slam tournamentsannounced that he has ovarian cancer and that he has undergone several surgeries and receives chemotherapy to stop the disease.
In an article published this Friday in the digital version of the sports medium ESPN along with her friend and journalist Chris McKendry, the Floridian tennis player indicated that fortunately the cancer was in an early stage (1C) when it was discovered last December.
The result of a pathological analysis of a sample taken during a preventive hysterectomy discovered malignant cells and a tumor that had originated in her left fallopian tube.
“I am so lucky,” the tennis player told Mckendry, knowing that it is very difficult to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage.
But evert, 67 years old and one of the best tennis players in history, was aware that she had to be vigilant due to family history.
Jeanne Evert, Chris’s sister and also a former professional tennis player, died in February 2020 at the age of 62 after ovarian cancer was detected at an advanced stage and had spread to other organs in the body.
Chris has had better luck, because, as Dr. Joel Cárdenas, the tennis player’s surgeon, explained, 70-80% of ovarian cancer is diagnosed at stage 3 or 4.
“Within three months more or less it would be in stage 3 or 4. And if nothing is done, it reaches the abdomen,” he explained in statements collected by ESPN.
The triple winner of Roland Garros, twice of the Australian Open and champion also on one occasion of the United States Open and Wimbledon, also explained that the memory of her sister’s “devastating and traumatizing” treatment gives her the strength to get out of this trance.
“When I go into chemotherapy, she is my inspiration,” he said.
The news has already generated reactions from other great tennis players, such as her compatriot Billie Jean King, winner of 39 Grand Slam titles, or the Spanish Paula Badosa, who won her third WTA tournament in Sydney this Saturday. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
