Serena Williams says benign cyst removed from neck and ‘everything is fine’

NEW YORK – Serena Williams says she had a benign branchial cyst “the size of a small grapefruit” removed from her neck and “everything is fine.”

The retired tennis star, who turned 43 last month, posted on social media on Wednesday that she found a lump on her neck in May, had an MRI scan and was had said she didn’t need to have it removed if she didn’t want to. has. So she didn’t do it at that time, “but it continued to grow,” Williams said.

After further tests, including a biopsy negative for cancer, Williams said, her doctors said she would have to have a procedure.

She showed a video of herself in a hospital bed and wrote: “So this is me taking it off.” I feel very grateful and lucky that everything went well and, most importantly, I am healthy.

In another social media post, she said she was “still recovering, but getting better.” Health always comes first.

Williams announced her retirement – ​​avoiding that term and instead saying she was “evolving” away from professional tennis – shortly before competing in the 2022 US Open, her final tournament.

She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most won by a woman in the sport’s professional era, and another 14 in doubles with her older sister Venus. Serena Williams spent more than 300 weeks at No. 1 in the WTA rankings and collected four Olympic gold medals.

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis