TENNIS – Carla Suarez Navarro, the former world number six says she is responding “very well” to cancer treatment. Carla “dreams” of returning for this year’s Tokyo Olympics, her last major event.
The Spaniard, 32, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma last year. Carla posted on Twitter on Monday that she was having her last chemotherapy session.
She said, “I don’t want people to remember me in a hospital bed, so I’d like to go again into a big tournament. It would be a dream to do that – an Olympic Games to say bye to my tennis family and also all my tennis fans.”
Retirement plans on hold
Suarez Navarro planned to retire in 2020, before her diagnosis. She said she’s spoken to Garbine Muguruza, her doubles partner at the Rio 2016 Olympics, about teaming up again.
The seven-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist says her focus remains on treatment and recovering physically. However, after doctors encouraged her to continue playing tennis, she reconsidered her retirement plans.
Suarez Navarro still ranked 85 in the world
Carla is still number 85 in the world rankings, despite last playing in February 2020. In December, she returned to the tennis court to practise with Italy’s Sara Errani. “What doctors said is basically that tennis and doing a sport was good for me so I decided to carry on with it,” she said.
