Carla Suarez Navarro has the Olympics in her sights
She actually wanted to quit tennis in 2020, then cancer came in the way - now Carla Suarez Navarro is looking forward to her comeback.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jan 04, 2021, 03:50 pm
"I would like to play a Grand Slam tournament in the second part of the season. And see if I qualify for the Olympic Games," said Carla Suarez Navarro in an interview with mundodeportivo.com .
Whether it works with Tokyo depends more on the playing colleagues than on her. "I have a protected ranking of 68, the cut should be between 60 and 70th place." She also wanted to play part of the US tour, "and that's it," said Suarez Navarro. "After I say goodbye, I want to have time for myself. I still haven't had that."
Meanwhile, Suarez Navarro is satisfied with her recovery. "The treatment is responding, that's one reason to be happy. I'm in the end phase, I guess it will take another month and a half. I have three more chemo sessions, then we have to see whether we do radiation therapy or not. It's basically a disease that ends when it ends. "
She wasn't afraid when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, just uncertainty at the beginning. "At first we didn't really know what it was, I had everything tested. When I went to the doctor, I heard all the possibilities, that drew my attention to it. It might be seven days before they gave me the news, and it was no longer such a surprise . I wasn't scared because they told me it was very curable because it was recognized in time. "
Suarez Navarro: Slowly starting again with tennis
The 32-year-old didn't want to say goodbye to tennis like that. Even if the training progressed rather slowly. Because of the risk of thrombosis, she should only put little strain on her arm. "But over time I went to the gym, lifted weights, regained flexibility in my arm. One day I said if I can do everything I do, why can't I play tennis like I have all my life have done?"
After all, she started with reduced-pressure balls, and now she plays three times a week. "I try to increase the level a little more each time. But above all it serves as a mental separation and physical activity. It is a relief, also because of Covid-19. I am grateful for tennis and it is what I can do - and what I like. "