Tennis player Carla Suarez Navarro plays for Spain at the international level. She's competed in both singles and doubles at the highest levels of her sport. As noted by the WTA, she was planning for 2020 to be her farewell tour before retiring.
The outbreak of COVID-19 threw a wrench into those plans. But that wouldn't be the only daunting challenge thrown in Suarez Navarro's way in 2020.
She recently withdrew from the 2020 U.S. Open. And she has now said why she did so.
Diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma
Suarez Navarro confirmed via social media that she's battling Hodgkin Lymphoma. A form of cancer that originates from lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. She had apparently sought medical treatment after feeling exceptionally fatigued.
In this case, the Hodgkin Lymphoma was caught while still in the early stage. Something that, while still very dangerous, has shown to drastically increase chances at recovery. In relative terms, patients struck with Hodgkin Lymphoma statistically tend to recover at higher percentages than other cancers.
But thousands of people on average still died from it on a yearly average. In many cases, survivors of the disease have also dealt with other serious problems later in life. Ones that can be traced back to the Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Yahoo reports that a number of figures in the tennis community have expressed support for Suarez Navarro. Her friend and frequent doubles partner Garbine Mugurza dedicated her first-round U.S. Open win to her. The match was played the same day that Suarez Navarro publicly announced her diagnosis. But she'd apparently told Mugurza about it a few days before.
She is a former Top 10 player
Suarez Navarro's biggest tournament championship as a singles player has been the 2016 Qatar Open.
A Premier 5 event. The victory followed a quarterfinals appearance in the Australian Open. Tying her best singles result in a Grand Slam event. Suarez Navarro's Australian Open and Qatar Open results helped propel her in the rankings. She reached number six in the world for women's singles players, a career-best for her.
Aside from the 2016 Australian Open, Suarez Navarro has reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal six other times. As a doubles player, she reached the semi-finals of the 2014 French Open, partnered with Muguruza. The pairing has won three Premier-level tournament championships together. They were also the runners-up of the 2015 WTA Finals.
Other competitions she has participated in include three different Summer Olympics. Her best result came at the 2016 Games in Brazil. In the women's singles competition, she reached the Round of 16.