"She is tennis, she is tennis family" - Paul Annacone and Chanda Rubin delighted at Martina Navratilova resuming work following cancer recovery

Chanda Rubin and Paul Annacone expressed their delight at Martina Navratilova returning to work for the Tennis Channel after recovering from cancer. The former World No. 1 recently announced that she was cancer-free after being diagnosed with stage 1 throat and breast cancer earlier this year.

Navratilova returned to work at the Tennis Channel as a commentator during the Miami Open and told Mark Petchey that she was happy to be healthy enough to return to work.

Former top 10 player Chanda Rubin stated that the Czech-American's health issues made her appreciate her work more. She also called Navratilova a fighter and an inspiration.:

"It makes you appreciate it a lot more, especially when you start to go through anything dealing with your health," Rubin said. "So, I think that's why it hit so many of us so hard what Martina had to fight through, but she's been such a fighter, she's such an inspiration and I'm just overjoyed to see her back."

Pete Sampras' former coach Paul Annacone also expressed his happiness about Martina Navratilova being back and stated that she was missed. Annacone also claimed that seeing her on TV made him smile.

"She loves it, we've missed her and you know, it always pulls on our heartstrings when we see someone that we love and care about that has to go through stuff like this and to see her come back with the passion and with the light in her eyes and really just the true love she has for this sport," Annacone said.

"When I turned on the TV today, I saw her and just had a huge smile on my face because you know what this means to her. She is tennis, she is tennis family, we love her and we're thrilled she is back," he added.

Boris Becker on Martina Navratilova 'beating the devil'

Martina Navratilova at a WTA event in 2022

Boris Becker was among those who were delighted to hear about Martina Navratilova's recovery from cancer. The German said that he was relieved the 66-year-old 'beat the devil'.

"Did you hear the good news ?!? So relieved the legend and extraordinary woman Martina beat the devil… she is as tough as they come," Becker wrote on Instagram.

This was the second time Martina Navratilova beat cancer, having previously been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. She recovered from the disease following six months of radiation therapy.