Navratilova 'diagnosed with breast cancer'

(ITV / Rex Features)

Martina Navratilova, one of the finest female tennis players of all time, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, she has told US magazine People.

"I cried," the report quoted Navratilova, 53, as saying about the moment in February when a biopsy came back positive after a routine mammogram revealed a cluster in her left breast.

"It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it's completely out of my hands."

The report said she will begin six weeks of radiation therapy in May and the prognosis for survival was extremely good.