Tennis legend Chris Evert says ovarian cancer has returned, will skip Wimbledon

(NEW YORK) — Tennis legend Chris Evert announced on social media Thursday that she will not be commentating at Wimbledon next week after learning over the weekend that her ovarian cancer had returned.

“I have always believed in being open and honest about my health journey,” Evert wrote in a statement shared on Instagram and X. “This past weekend, after undergoing CT and PET scans, I learned that my ovarian cancer has returned. I have already undergone surgery as the first step in my treatment and recovery, and will begin chemotherapy in the coming weeks.”

Evert, a tennis analyst for ESPN, had been scheduled to work as a commentator at this year’s Wimbledon tournament in London, which runs from June 29 to July 12. In her statement Thursday, she said she would be stepping back from her professional commitments for the next several months “to focus on my health.”

“Ovarian cancer is relentless, but I will stay optimistic and determined in continuing to fight this battle,” she wrote. “I am deeply grateful to my medical team, my family, friends, and everyone who has reached out with kindness and encouragement. I look forward to seeing everyone again soon.”

Evert was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022, announcing the following year that she was cancer-free.

She received a second diagnosis just under a year later and revealed she was cancer-free again in July 2024.

Evert recently sat down with “Good Morning America” alongside longtime tennis rival turned friend Martina Navratilova and said their shared post-retirement cancer battles — Navratilova was diagnosed twice, in 2010 and 2023, and is now cancer-free — had “brought our relationship, our friendship, to another level because of the support and the care that we had for each other.”

Evert made her major tournament debut at just 16 years old in the 1971 U.S. Open at Forest Hills, becoming the youngest semifinalist in the tournament’s history, according to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She lost the match to eventual champion Billie Jean King.

Evert notched 18 Grand Slam titles over the course of her playing career. The former world No. 1 player also held that top ranking for 260 weeks, which according to the Women’s Tennis Association is the fourth all-time record behind Steffi Graf (377 weeks), Navratilova (332 weeks) and Serena Williams (319 weeks).

Evert retired from professional tennis in 1989 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995.

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