A WTA Tour mainstay known for her consistency and adaptability, Carla Suarez Navarro departed the Tour this year with 2020 announced to be her final season, prior to the tennis world being hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spaniard was then dealt the cruel blow of a cancer diagnosis in September, which effectively cut her career as it stood. But Suarez Navarro’s career was much more than the way in which it finished. The 32-year-old withstood 17 years on the circuit and, despite not making it further than the singles quarter finals at Grand Slams – seven times across the Australian Open, US Open and Roland Garros, plus once in the doubles – the Spaniard consistently maintained close to a top 50 status from 2008 through to 2020, where she started her year ranked 52nd prior to retirement.

Bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s, Suarez Navarro peaked throughout 2015/16, reaching her career-high ranking of sixth in the world, with those two seasons bracketed by consistent top 20 efforts which saw her continue to ply her trade and produce some outstanding performances. Making 11 singles finals between 2009-2018 and winning two titles, Suarez Navarro more than proved she was capable of stepping up to the plate time and again, with 2020 seeing her 12th consecutive top 100 finish.

A reliable performer able to burst into action and match it with the best credit to her immense backhand and ability to adjust to opposition ploys, the former top 10 talent announced back in December 2019 that 2020 would be her final year on Tour, looking to finish off her career on a high.

“The 2020 season will be my last year in the professional tennis circuit,” Suarez Navarro said. “The sport has been a fundamental part of my life—it has given me immense joy and I cannot be more grateful for all the experiences that it has allowed me to live.”

While originally Suarez Navarro had planned to bade goodbye to her favourite tournaments this year, the ongoing global pandemic unfortunately put a spanner in the works, while her ongoing cancer treatment will negate an opportunity to farewell the sport in 2021.

“If it (the WTA Tour) were not played more in 2020, I would see a possibility of being able to say goodbye in Madrid 2021,” Suarez Navarro said in March.

In her official statement on social media in early September, Suarez Navarro noted that her deteriorating health in 2020 had rendered her unable to train regularly or complete a practice session since months prior. 

“As I let you know in previous weeks, I’ve been unable to train on court or at the gym on a regular basis recently. When I expose my body to the demands of professional sport, it doesn’t sustain the effort anymore. I haven’t completed a practice sessions since July.

“The clinical results were confirmed: I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.”

With a diagnosis and six month treatment plan in place, it is unlikely Suarez Navarro will get the opportunity to farewell tennis the way she planned, but like the way she tackled her tennis, with grit, determination and continued perseverance the Spaniard leaves the Tour with the support of fans and players alike, and plenty to be proud of across her career. 

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– Career Summary:

Wins: 515
Losses: 341
Win-loss percentage: 60%

Grand Slams: 

Titles: 0
Runner-up: 0
Wins: 92
Losses: 48
Win-loss percentage: 65.7%

Career Titles: 2

1 – Oeiras (2014), Doha (2016)