Jana Novotna, the Czech tennis professional, turned pro in the year 1987 and represented Czechoslovakia. She also featured alongside the Czech-American player Martina Navratilova on few occasions before retiring in 1999.

Sadly, in 2017, she said goodbye to the world because of an incurable spread of cancer. However, before settling down for the rest of the days, Novotna played a few invitation tournaments and one was alongside Navratilova, who recently stumbled upon a picture from one of their matches and got emotional.

Martina Navratilova shares her feelings about Novotna

The 18 times Grand Slam champion took on Twitter to remember a friend whom she lost around five years ago. Navratilova shared the image a fan of her took back in their playing days. And wrote, “I miss Jana so much….”

The former World no.1 last paired up with Novotna in the year 2010 for the ladies’ invitational doubles title. The duo outclassed the pair of Tracy Austin and Kathy Rinaldi in the finals, to claim the trophy grass courts of Wimbledon offered.

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Further, speaking about former Novotna’s achievements, she marked 24 singles titles under her name, including the 1998 Wimbledon Championships. Also, she clinched 74 doubles titles and the ranking of World no.1 while in the game.

Navratilova and other tennis stars struggle with cancer

The 9-times Wimbledon champion, who lost one of her friends to cancer, suffered from breast cancer in the year 2010. In fact, her playing in the invitation doubles was to celebrate her victory against the disease.

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In the April of the year 2010, Navratilova informed her fans that a noninvasive form of cancer, called ductal carcinoma in situ, was found in her system during a mammogram. Thereafter, she underwent a surgical procedure to get rid of the tumor and, following that, she chose a series of radiation treatments in order to uproot the diseases.

In addition, Navratilova’s on-court rival and best friend Chris Evert also struggled with cancer. In early 2021, she was diagnosed with stage one ovarian cancer. Evert, who lost her sister to cancer, with the support of friends, family, and fans defeated the deadly disease.

A few days ago, the tennis veteran broke the joyous news of her completing all six chemotherapy sessions. Currently, she is out of danger and has resumed her job at ESPN.