The Spaniard meets world No 1 Ashleigh Barty in the first round at Wimbledon after undergoing chemotherapy
Perhaps the only certainty in women’s tennis on the eve of Wimbledon is that Carla Suárez Navarro continues to be the recipient of deeply unfortunate draws as she sees out the interrupted final stretch of her career on her own terms.
Suárez Navarro, a former world No 6, seven times a major quarter-finalist and owner of one of the last classic single-handed backhands in the women’s game, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma shortly before last year’s US Open. While her rivals were returning to competition and travelling the world in the second half of 2020, Suárez Navarro underwent eight sessions of chemotherapy over several months until she announced that she had been cured this April.
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