Gibbs to undergo surgery for salivary gland cancer

Published May 14, 2019

Nicole Gibbs shared some very tough news with her followers on Monday: a cancer diagnosis. The 26-year-old will undergo surgery on Friday to remove a growth on the roof of her mouth that came back positive for mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a type of salivary gland cancer.

"Unfortunately I will be withdrawing from the remainder of the clay season and will not be competing at this year's Roland Garros," Gibbs wrote. "Fortunately this form of cancer has a great prognosis and my surgeon is confident that surgery alone will be sufficient treatment."

Here Gibbs talk mental health, life after tennis and more on the TENNIS.com Podcast:

The world No. 117 was competing just last week at an ITF W100 in Bonita Springs, Fla. She said her recent tournaments "served as a nice distraction."

Before Bonita Springs, Gibbs reached the quarterfinals of W100 in Charleston and the final of a W80 in Palm Harbor, Fla.

She plans to be back in time for Wimbledon qualifying, which starts on July 1.