Tennis icon Martina Navratilova has beaten cancer for the time being. "As far as you know, I'm cancer-free," revealed the 18-time Grand Slam tournament winner in an emotional interview on British star presenter Piers Morgan's TV talk show. For two more weeks she still had to be treated preventively on her breast, "then I should be fit again".

The 66-year-old Czech, who also has US citizenship, made her renewed cancer public shortly after the turn of the year. She had been diagnosed with early-stage throat and breast cancer. A swollen lymph node had prompted her to have tests. In 2010, she was diagnosed with non-invasive breast cancer, and after six months of treatment, the former world number one was considered cancer-free at the time.

The renewed health setback put her in "total panic" for three days, as Navratilova now said. She feared "I might not see next Christmas". She even thought of a so-called "bucket list" and thought about what else she wanted to do before she died. Buying and driving a fast car was high on the list, Navratilova revealed.