Chris Evert’s career winning percentage was 90%. After beating back cancer, that’s the same number doctors give her that it’s gone for good.
One year after announcing she was diagnosed with Stage 1 ovarian cancer, Evert revealed in an open letter published on ESPN.com that she is now free of the disease.
Evert detailed her road to recovery starting with the passing of her younger sister, Jeanne, in February 2020. Not long after, a blood test showed that Chris carried the same BRCA-1 variant that claimed her sister’s life. She underwent an immediate preventative hysterectomy, but pathology uncovered malignant cells and a tumor in her left fallopian tube. Six rounds of chemotherapy followed.
“It is only because of the genetic road map my sister left behind and the power of scientific progress that we caught my cancer early enough to do something about it,” said Evert. “My doctor said if left undiscovered, in four months' time I would probably have been Stage 3 like Jeanne, with very few options.”