WIMBLEDON, England — Martina Navratilova arrived here, at the tennis tournament where she won nine singles titles, free in every sense that mattered.
Free of cancer. Free of the radiation treatments she had before, during and after the French Open. Free to resume the life the diagnosis briefly, and only slightly, interrupted.
Last week, she sat at a back booth inside a Wimbledon Village restaurant, an hour or so after hosting a question-and-answer session about her plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in December for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
Asked how beating cancer and climbing mountains fit her overall life narrative — tennis legend, gay-rights activist, celebrity endorser, philanthropist and so on — Navratilova leaned forward, laughed shyly and said, “I always win.”
Navratilova found out in February that she had noninvasive breast cancer, known as ductal carcinoma in situ, caught in its earliest form.
She went after cancer the way she played tennis, and says she will go up Mount Kilimanjaro the same way.
“You never go on the court thinking, I want to lose,” she said.
Hanescu fined.
Victor Hanescu was fined $15,000 by Wimbledon officials after spitting at hecklers.
The Romanian, who later apologized, was fined $7,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct after swearing and spitting in the direction of hecklers in the crowd on Court 18.
“There were people in the crowd that had been insulting me since the beginning of the match,” Hanescu said in a statement issued by the ATP. “I lost my control briefly, but I am human and I made a mistake.”
Williams sisters advance.
Serena and Venus Williams moved a step closer to their fifth consecutive Grand Slam doubles championship and 13th overall.
They won their third-round match, beating Dominika Cibulkova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-2.
Davenport makes appearance.
Lindsay Davenport is not preparing for any sort of long-term comeback. But after retiring two years ago after having her second child, Davenport has entered a couple of mixed doubles events, including Wimbledon.
She and partner Bob Bryan were first-round winners, beating Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Denver Post wire services
