She wasn't playing in the event but was on the practice courts and hitting with players such as Williams. "YES Carla!!!!! You are an inspiration!!!" added Bethanie Mattek-Sands.įour days later, Suarez Navarro was at the Madrid Open. "I'm just one of the millions who are SO happy for this news!" Venus Williams wrote in the comments. With a picture of herself wearing a "Stronger than Cancer" shirt, she wrote she had finished her treatment and "overcame" the disease. Suarez Navarro completed her treatment, which also included radiotherapy, and on April 22, she shared good news on Instagram. Then every day I'm better and I play a little bit more." "I start to play with soft balls, I start to play 20 minutes. "Until the first of March of this year, I cannot practice, like, fully," she said. It was unclear if a comeback would be possible, but she kept a singular focus on her goal. She continued to share updates and videos during her treatment and even some clips of herself practicing and in the gym. Her peers and fans filled her timeline with encouraging messages - something she said constantly uplifted her spirits. Her announcement was met with overwhelming support from the tennis community. Everything else becomes automatically secondary." That's the only goal I have in mind right now. "The treatment required is clear: I must complete a treatment with six months of chemotherapy. "The doctors told me that it was small, curable lymphoma detected at an early stage," she said from what appeared to be a hospital room. Having already withdrawn from what she once thought would be her final Grand Slam at the US Open, Suarez Navarro shared the news on the second day of the tournament with a video posted to her social media accounts. She was hospitalized for 10 days and received the Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in August. In July, she started to feel under the weather and was unable to practice. She continued training with the plan of playing whichever events remained when the season eventually resumed. She was ready to walk away from the game, but the coronavirus pandemic halted the season in March, and instead of continuing her globetrotting farewell tour, she was grounded at her home in Spain. 6 and seven-time major quarterfinalist, had announced before the 2020 season that it would be her last. It was a farewell she had originally planned on making in 2020. "I'm really proud, too, of myself and really happy to have the chance to play here one last time." Roland Garros is one of my favorite tournaments, so I really clear that my first tournament will be this one. "But, well, every time I had on my mind that I want to be here, I want to come back. " was a long time, really tough moments, tough months," said Suarez Navarro after the match. She showed few signs of nerves or rust - save for some questions about pandemic protocol for the chair umpire - and pushed Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and former French Open finalist, to the brink with her powerful backhand and unrelenting fight.īut even though the 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 result wasn't what Suarez Navarro wanted, just the possibility of having the opportunity to play one last time at Roland Garros had gotten her through the most challenging of days during her treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. It had been 15 months since the 32-year-old had played a competitive match, and she had to wait until the final women's match of the first round in Paris. Less than six weeks after announcing she is cancer-free - "¡ESTOY CURADA!" - in an Instagram post, Suarez Navarro showed sometimes winning has nothing to do with the scoreboard. But the smattering of people who remained in the stadium at Court Simonne-Mathieu - mostly the players' teams and various tournament officials - rose to applaud following a nearly 2½ hour battle. The sun had long set and there were no fans remaining in the stands by the end of Carla Suarez Navarro's first-round match against Sloane Stephens on Tuesday night at the French Open. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬarla Suarez Navarro gives inspirational effort in first match since being declared cancer-free
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |