"It was such a shock for me," Martina Navratilova said. "It was my 9/11."

Tennis ace and legend of the Wimbledon lore Martina Navratilova was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) which is a non-invasive form of the disease that has a small chance of relapse. She chalks her diagnosis up to missing her mammogram appointments for several years.

The 18 time tennis champion will be a frontrunner in a talk by the AARP encouraging women to make sure that they have the screening test.

The 53-year-old confessed that she was devastated when she first heard the news in February this year but she hasn’t let her illness slow her down. Navratilova plans to work as a commentator for the Tennis Channel during the French Open while undergoing radiation therapy in Paris

She is sure she will have a full responsibility and will have less than a 10% chance of relapse once the treatments are complete.

Navratilova won 59 Grand Slam titles overall, including 18 in singles, 31 in doubles and 10 in mixed doubles. The last was a mixed doubles championship with Bob Bryan at the 2006 U.S. Open, a month shy of Navratilova's 50th birthday.