Martina Navratilova rallies around close friend Chris Evert, just days after she revealed second ovarian cancer diagnosis… with tennis legends – who both battled the disease in gruelling 2023 – sharing ‘delicious food’

• Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have both had cancer diagnoses this year 
• READ: Evert will not broadcast at the Australian Open during ongoing treatment
• Navratilova is currently cancer free after battling throat cancer and breast cancer at the start of the year

Tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert came together to share some ‘delicious food’, just days after Evert revealed her second ovarian cancer diagnosis. 

It has been an incredibly difficult year for the two former tennis greats, with both navigating multiple fights against cancer. 

Navratilova, who is currently cancer free after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer back in January, played host to Evert at her home, with tennis fans left delighted to see the two friends together. 

Evert, 68, is an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion but this remains one of her biggest fights as she now takes on a second cancer battle in two years.

In Navratilova she has a close friend who knows what she is going through and the pair could raise a smile as they came together over some food. 

Chris Evert (left) shared a photo alongside close friend Martina Navratilova (right) as she comes to terms with her second ovarian cancer diagnosis

Evert captioned it: ‘We’re in this together!’ Both former tennis stars have had cancer battles

Sharing the picture to her 314,000 followers on X, Evert captioned the image: ‘We’re in this together. Thanks for the delicious food @Martina’

Evert was first diagnosed with stage 1 BRCA-related ovarian cancer in December of 2021. 

She completed chemotherapy in May of 2022, telling the public that her doctor was confident that the disease would not return because it was caught early. 

But on Friday, Evert delivered the devastating news that her cancer had returned. 

‘While this is a diagnosis I never wanted to hear, I once again feel fortunate that it was caught early,’ Evert said in a statement, released by US broadcaster ESPN. 

‘Doctors found cancer cells in the same pelvic region. All cells were removed, and I have begun another round of chemotherapy.’

Evert added that she will not broadcast for ESPN at the upcoming Australian Open while undergoing treatment.

‘I’ll be ready for the rest of the Grand Slam season!’ Evert added.

She previously revealed her initial cancer diagnosis in January of 2022, insisting at the time that she was optimistic.

‘I’ve lived a very charmed life. Now I have some challenges ahead of me,’ Evert said. 

‘But I have comfort in knowing the chemotherapy is to ensure that cancer does not come back.’

Her sister, Jeanne Evert Dubin, died from ovarian cancer in February 2020 at age 62.

‘Be your own advocate. Know your family’s history. Have total awareness of your body, follow your gut and be aware of changes,’ Evert said in 2022. ‘Don’t try to be a crusader and think this will pass.’

Navratilova (left) and Evert (right) were adversaries on court but grew close in retirement

Evert was first diagnosed with a BRCA-1 variant of ovarian cancer back in November of 2021

Evert’s sister, Jeanne, died from the same variant of the cancer that was found too late

It comes less than a year since Evert announced she was cancer free, saying there was a 90 per cent chance the disease would not return.

Evert previously said that back when her sister was first diagnosed, doctors didn’t recommend her or her siblings get tested.

‘Jeanne wasn’t BRCA positive, but genetic testing revealed she had a BRCA-1 variant that was of “uncertain significance.”,’ she said.

‘Then, last November, I got a call saying they had reclassified her BRCA variant — the significance was no longer uncertain, it was now very clearly pathogenic, and we should be tested.’

In Navratilova, Evert has a sounding board of not just a former competitor on the court but someone who can empathise with the battle she faces fighting cancer off it. 

In June of this year Navratilova delighted her supporters by revealing she was cancer free. 

A month later, despite being ‘terrified’, the Prague-born tennis icon went and got a ‘f**k cancer’ haircut to show how far she had come. 

In a post on her wife Julia Lemigova’s Instagram account, the couple shared the emotional moment Navratilova had her hair cut short, saying the trip was ‘a reminder of how far we’ve come’.

The video shows Navratilova, who won 18 Grand Slam titles in her illustrious career, getting her blonde, shoulder length hair cut into an elfin crop – dubbed the ‘F*** cancer haircut’. 

Evert won 18 grand slam titles, including six US Open crowns and seven French Open trophies

Nine times Wimbledon champion Navratilova got a ‘f**k cancer’ haircut earlier in the year

When Lemigova, 51, asked her wife how she was feeling about the bold new look, saying: ‘Marti, are you scared?’ Navratilova replied: ‘Terrified…but nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

Lemigova, who’s been married to the player turned commentator since their Palm Beach wedding in 2015, wrote: ‘My wife Martina, just beat two cancers at the same time, and I couldn’t be more proud of her strength and determination. Her courage and grace inspire me every day.

‘Today, we are taking her to get a haircut, and it may seem like a small, simple thing, but it is a reminder of how far we have come. It is a symbol of hope and a celebration of life. We are grateful for each and every moment, and we know that we are stronger together than we could ever be alone.’

After the trim, the tennis icon said she was ‘loving’ her new haircut. 

In late June, ahead of Wimbledon where she worked as a commentator, she announced on Twitter after what she said was a full day of tests at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City that she was finally free of the disease.

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