Chemotherapy changed Carla Suárez Navarro's body, but hasn't altered her positive state of mind.
The 32-year-old Spaniard completed her final session of chemotherapy this week with the same courage and optimism she's shown throughout battle with Hodgkin lymphoma.
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Now, the former world No. 6 has set her sights on realizing her tennis dream: reuniting with good friend and doubles partner Garbine Muguruza to play the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer.
"She was in Barcelona and I saw her twice, three times," Suárez Navarro told as.com in a wide-ranging interview. "I would be very excited to be able to play some more doubles with her, but until I know how my body reacts, I don't know what's going to happen. Although we have this dream of re-finding ourselves."
Suárez Navarro, who goes to the gym twice a week plays tennis three times a week and occasionally swims, said she's feeling "pretty well" and encouraged by how her body is responding.
"The body has responded very well to treatment and I am happy," she told as.com. "It's been a pretty clean process, it's been on course, and I've even had sessions cut out, something that's always good. I feel good."
Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza has shown support for Suárez Navarro throughout her treatment; the pair share a common Olympic goal.
Her battle with Hodgkin lymphoma and the Coronavirus pandemic prevented the woman with the brilliant one-handed backhand from her planned final season in 2020. If her health permits, Suárez Navarro would like to give the game a formal farewell with appearances at the Olympics, Wimbledon and US Open this summer.
"I would like to return in order to say goodbye: I planned to retire in 2020 and had to postpone it to 2021 because of the pandemic," Suárez Navarro said. "If the checkup goes well and they tell me it's all over, great. But I don't know when my body will eliminate everything they've put in it. I'd like to be ready in May. But I don't know if I can.
"For the Games, the invitations are very specific, but I have a protected ranking, with the number 68, and I could enter, because the cut is usually out there. I hope they can be celebrated. There could also be Wimbledon and US Open perfectly."
Living a disciplined life as a pro athlete helped Suárez Navarro persevere and prevail through a life-changing illness.
"I think being a tennis player, in an individual sport, has helped me a lot in times of pain, because we live with that," Suárez Navarro told as.com. "Maybe that's why I realized something was wrong, too...
"I'll get a checkup next week to see how it's all gone. There are two possibilities, that everything has disappeared and it is over, or that there is something residual left and they have to do some radiation therapy session. After the fourth chemo I was made, I was already told that almost everything had disappeared, although I wasn't ahead of the way things were going to go."
Photo credit: Christopher Levy