Retired tennis star Serena Williams announced on Wednesday that she had a benign branchial cyst removed from her neck.
The 43-year-old Williams said on social media that the cyst that was ‘the size of a small grapefruit’ and deemed herself ‘OK.’
Williams added that the cyst was found in May and showed video of herself in a hospital bed.
‘They said I don’t need to get it removed if I don’t want,’ Williams wrote. ‘So I did not get it but it kept growing. I decided to get more test and 3 test and one biopsy later everything is still negative but doctors advised I get it removed asap because it was the size of a small grapefruit and it could get infected or worse leak.’
In another social media post, Williams said she is “still recovering, but getting better. Health always comes first.”
In her tennis career, Williams won 23 singles Grand Slam titles in singles and 14 more doubles titles. She was ranked No. 1 in the WTA rankings for 319 weeks, won four Olympic gold medals, and was voted Associated Press Athlete of the Year five times.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.