Almost exactly a year after tennis legend Chris Evert announced she was diagnosed with Stage 1C ovarian cancer, the 18-time Grand Slam champion shared Tuesday that she is cancer free.
In a piece she wrote for ESPN published Tuesday, Evert detailed her late sister’s cancer journey and how it impacted her own experience. Evert was able to discover her cancer early on because of the genetic map her sister Jeanne had left. Doctors were able to discover that Evert had BRCA-1 variant, which her sister also had.
Six chemotherapy treatments later, Evert no longer has ovarian cancer.
“Today, I’m cancer free, and there’s a 90% chance that the ovarian cancer will never come back,” Evert said.
Evert noted that those with BRCA-1 variant are also at higher risk for breast cancer, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer.
After already undergoing a hysterectomy, Evert then had a double mastectomy to lessen her odds of breast cancer. The ESPN analyst said she has one more surgery left.
“Luckily, the report came back clean and clear, and my risk of developing breast cancer has been reduced by more than 90%,” Evert said.
Evert said the reason she wrote this detailed piece about her experience is so that others may learn more information to potentially save their lives, as her sister’s journey did for her.
“As relieved as I will be to get to the other side of this, I will always have a heavy heart,” Evert said. “I will never heal from losing Jeanne, and I will never take for granted the gift she gave me in the process. My sister’s journey saved my life, and I hope by sharing mine, I just might save somebody else’s.”
Evert is currently working as an ESPN analyst for this year’s coverage of the 2023 Australian Open.
