Francesca Schiavone broke a social media silence to drop some shocking news: she's has been diagnosed with and beaten cancer. The 39-year-old retired last year, and had been offline since the summer.

"I'll tell you what happened in the past seven months of my life: they diagnosed me with a malignant tumor, it was the toughest battle I ever faced in my life," Schiavone said, in Italian. "But the best thing about it is that I have managed to win this battle."

She had hinted at a big announcement on her Instagram story.

Francesca Schiavone on her Instagram stories

"Hi everyone. After 7, 8 months of absence from social media, from the world basically, I'm here to tell you what happened" + the caption "to be continued" pic.twitter.com/QFx4oinf8Q — Diego Barbiani (@Diego_Barbiani) December 12, 2019

The 2010 French Open champion said she's ready to start on new projects now, which should include coaching.