This week marks 50 years since tennis legend Chris Evert, 70, won her first U.S. Open Women’s Singles Title. As the worldwide tennis community honors her for her athletic prowess, her resilience as a cancer survivor is also in the spotlight.
Evert was first diagnosed in December 2021 with stage 1 ovarian cancer after tests revealed she carried the BRCA gene mutation, which increases cancer risk. She underwent a preventative hysterectomy and several rounds of chemotherapy before reaching remission.
When Evert’s ovarian cancer returned, she restarted treatment, which included additional surgery and chemo before reaching remission again. Ovarian cancer recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in the Gland Surgery medical journal.
Ovarian cancer often goes undetected in its early stages due to vague symptoms like bloating, pelvic pain, and changes in bowel habits. Many cases begin in the fallopian tubes, with cancerous cells eventually spreading to the ovaries.
It’s been 50 years since tennis icon Chris Evert won her first U.S. Open Women’s Singles title—a milestone that not only launched one of the most decorated careers in tennis history, but also cemented her place as a trailblazer for generations of athletes to come.
The US Open’s Instagram account shared a touching video highlighting her career and lasting impact.
“The Cinderella of tennis,” the video’s narrator, Mary Carillo, said in the video, which spotlighted Evert’s two-handed backhand.
BOCA RATON, FL – NOVEMBER 22: Chris Evert on court during a match at the 30th Annual Chris Evert Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic at Boca Raton Resort & Club on November 22, 2019, in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images)
“Grace under pressure is fueled by a quiet fire,” Carillo said of Evert.
Now 70, the 18-time Grand Slam champion’s legacy extends far beyond the baseline. Her signature resilience, once reserved for Grand Slam battles, has carried her through a deeply personal fight: ovarian cancer.
She was first diagnosed in 2021 with stage 1 ovarian cancer. She faced her diagnosis with the same determination that defined her career. She underwent a preventative hysterectomy and several rounds of chemotherapy.
(Original Caption) Ft Lauderdale, Fla.: Jeanne Evert, 14 yr. An old tennis star is with her 16-year-old sister, Chris Evert. Yesterday, Jeanne Evert won over Rosemary Casals. Today, Chris Evert won over Corinne Molesworth. Both sisters are playing this week at the Tennis Club Women’s International Tournament in Ft Lauderdale, Fla. Jeanne Evert is playing again Friday, February 4, 1972.
After undergoing treatment, she reached remission as no evidence of the disease was present during scans at the time. However, when dealing with ovarian cancer, there is a high chance of recurrence – 80 percent – despite initial treatment. Most women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer will respond positively to their first round of treatment and go into remission. However, of that 80 percent, a majority will likely experience a recurrence, meaning their cancer will come back.
WATCH: What Are The Symptoms And Warning Signs of Ovarian Cancer?
“With ovarian cancer, the standard of care is a very, very effective chemotherapy,” gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology, Dr. Dana Chase, tells SurvivorNet.
“Meaning we give you chemotherapy when you first have your diagnosis of ovarian cancer– 80% chance that you go into remission. So, 80%, I consider pretty good for cancer therapy,” Dr. Chase adds.
In late 2023, Evert experienced a recurrence, forcing her to confront the disease once again.
WATCH: Coping With Ovarian Cancer Recurrence
“My cancer is back. While this is a diagnosis I never wanted to hear, I once again feel fortunate that it was caught early,” Evert said, according to an X social media post by ESPN.
Evert’s surprise announcement came as she revealed she could not cover the Australian Open. She added, “Based on a PET CT scan, I underwent another robotic surgery…doctors found cancer cells in the same pelvic region. All cells were removed, and I have begun another round of chemotherapy.”
Earlier this year, she was declared cancer-free for the second time—a testament to her strength, spirit, and unwavering will to heal.
It should be noted that Evert carries the BRCA gene mutation, which enhances the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Rebecca Arend, an associate scientist at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, explained the BRCA mutations. “A BRCA mutation is a defect in your ability to repair a double-strand break. If you think about DNA as a double helix, which we’ve all learned about in basic science, if you have a single-strand break, a PARP enzyme is needed to repair that single-strand break. If you have a PARP inhibitor, you can’t repair that single-strand break,” she says.
WATCH: Understanding the BRCA Mutation
Dr. Arend continues, “And if you have a single-strand break that’s not repaired, that actually leads to a double-strand break. So, when both of the arms of the DNA helix are broken, then your body has normal mechanisms for repairing that. One of them is called homologous recombination.”
Her story is one of triumph, not just in sport, but in survival.
Known as the “cancer that whispers,” ovarian cancer often presents vague, easily overlooked symptoms, leading many women to receive diagnoses only in later stages.
“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet.
“Feeling bloated, pelvic pain, changes in bowel habits—these are symptoms women may have every month, and they’re not very specific.”
The standard of care for ovarian cancer patients is chemotherapy, which helps many patients reach remission.
Ovarian cancer recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in the Gland Surgery medical journal. With recurrence a strong possibility for this disease, especially in the later stages of ovarian cancer, certain drug treatments to deal with it are giving many women hope.
WATCH: Treating ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is sub-categorized into two groups.
Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer: Your cancer does not return for more than six months after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.
Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer: Your cancer returns within six months of treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.
“The mechanism that causes platinum resistance will cause someone to be resistant to other chemotherapies, as well. That’s why we’re looking for what we call targeted therapies – precision medicine,” Dr. Noelle Cloven from Texas Oncology-Fort Worth Cancer Center explained.
Targeted therapies, also known as precision medicine, specifically target the proteins that control the growth, division, and spread of cancer cells.
WATCH: The standard of care for initial treatment for ovarian cancer.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following, according to SurvivorNet experts.
A feeling of bloating or fullness
Pain in the pelvis or abdomen
Nausea
Vomiting
Changes in bowel habits
Many ovarian cancers are believed to originate in the fallopian tubes, where stray cancerous cells migrate to the ovaries and eventually form tumors.
WATCH: Should PARP Inhibitors Be Given to All Ovarian Cancer Patients?
Wilson-Sampras, though absent from red carpets and press interviews, is reportedly still undergoing maintenance therapy—a phase of treatment intended to delay recurrence and extend remission after initial care. This often includes options like PARP inhibitors, which block cancer cells from repairing themselves, or Avastin, which reduces blood flow to tumors.
Research published in the Journal of Hematology Oncology Pharmacy in 2024 shows that patients with inherited BRCA mutations (a gene mutation that increases the chance of breast and ovarian cancer) typically use PARP inhibitors for a median of 18.5 months, while those with tumor-specific (somatic) mutations stay on treatment slightly longer, around 20.1 months.
Though the specifics of Wilson-Sampras’s regimen remain private, her continued absence from the spotlight—and her husband’s heartfelt words—point to a woman prioritizing survival, family, and grace over visibility.
Maintenance Therapy for Ovarian Cancer
Maintenance therapy plays a critical role in helping ovarian cancer patients stay in remission after completing their initial treatment, which often includes surgery and chemotherapy.
“Maintenance therapy is continued treatment after the patient finishes their initial treatment,” explains Dr. Alpa Nick, a gynecologic oncologist with Tennessee Oncology in Nashville.
WATCH: What genetic testing reveals about your cancer?
“The biggest question is: How do you choose between bevacizumab (brand name, Avastin) or a PARP inhibitor for maintenance therapy?” Dr. Nick says.
Both are effective options, but they take very different approaches. While PARP inhibitors target cancer cells’ internal repair systems, Avastin works externally by blocking new blood vessel growth, essentially starving tumors of the needed nourishment.
Genetic testing is key to determining which treatment is most effective. “When patients have their surgery, we can test their tumor to decide if their tumor has a homologous recombination deficiency (HRD),” says Dr. Nick. If HRD is present, patients are more likely to benefit from PARP inhibitors.
Some women may be candidates for a combination approach. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Avastin in combination with olaparib (brand name Lynparza) for women with HRD-positive tumors who respond to platinum-based chemotherapy.
This pairing increased progression-free survival in clinical trials from 17 to 37 months. “A patient really has to make a decision upfront, or near the beginning of their treatment, that they want bevacizumab maintenance treatment because they’ll have it with their primary chemotherapy,” adds Dr. Nick.
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines now recommend that PARP inhibitors be offered to women newly diagnosed with stage III or IV ovarian cancer, regardless of their genetic status, if they’ve responded well to chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, another breakthrough therapy is offering new hope for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer: Elahere (mirvetuximab). This targeted treatment is designed for women who test positive for high levels of folate receptor-alpha (FRα), a molecular marker found on some ovarian cancer cells.
“What that means is that the antibody part of the drug conjugate binds to the folate receptor on the tumor cells, and then that gets taken up into the tumor cell,” says Dr. Lyons.
“And then the drug that is conjugated with is the part that actually kills the tumor cells, by affecting the tumor cells’ ability to divide.” Often described as “biological missiles,” these antibody-drug conjugates are ushering in a new age of precision therapy.
Why Recurrence Is Something to Watch for in Ovarian Cancer
When cancer returns, it is referred to as recurrence. It often occurs because some cancer cells are left behind after treatment. Those cells grow over time and are eventually detected in follow-up scans received by patients in remission.
Ovarian cancer patients faced with a recurrence will likely need to restart chemotherapy or consider another surgical procedure.
WATCH: Ovarian cancer recurrence.
The type of treatment recommended for recurrence can depend on several factors:
The period within which the cancer recurred
The kind of chemotherapy the woman underwent in the past
Side effects that came as a result of past treatments
The length of time between the last treatment the woman underwent and the recurrence
The specific mutations and molecular features of your cancer
If a woman’s time between remission and recurrence is more than six months, then the ovarian cancer is categorized as “platinum-sensitive” (that is, responsive to a platinum-based chemotherapy treatment), and that patient will be treated with chemotherapy and another platinum-based drug.
If the recurrence time happens less than six months into remission, the ovarian cancer is classified as “platinum-resistant.” At that point, women are usually treated with another type of chemotherapy and encouraged to enter into a clinical trial. Alternatively, women might be platinum-refractory, which refers to a disease that grows while the patient is on chemotherapy and has a particularly poor prognosis.
Determining the probability that a woman’s cancer will recur depends on the stage at which they were initially diagnosed. According to most data:
Women with stage 1 ovarian cancer have a 10 percent chance of recurrence.
Women in stage 2 have a 30 percent chance of recurrence.
Women in stage 3 have a 70 to 90 percent chance of recurrence.
Women in stage 4 have a 90 to 95 percent chance of recurrence.
WATCH: Clinical trials can be life-saving.
Clinical trials are an option for women facing ovarian cancer with a high probability of recurrence. If you fall into this category, ask your doctor about possible clinical trial eligibility. Clinical trials help doctors better understand cancer and discover more effective treatment methods. They also allow patients to try a treatment before it’s approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which can potentially be life-changing.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and need guidance to further educate yourself on the disease and treatment, consider these questions for your doctor.
What type of ovarian cancer do I have?
What stage is my cancer in?
Do you recommend I get genetic testing for any gene mutations, such as the BRCA gene mutation?
What initial treatment options do you recommend?
What are the possible side effects of the recommended treatment, and how can they be coped with?
Will insurance help cover my recommended treatment?
