At long last, Carla Suarez Navarro will get the chance to bid farewell to tennis on her terms.

Nine months after revealing her diagnosis of early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma and starting a course of chemotherapy, the 32-year-old Spaniard is back in a Grand Slam draw, set to face Sloane Stephens in the first round at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

And the former world No. 6 intends to make one last appearance on the grandest stages tennis has to offer in 2021 – including a potential fourth appearance at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Suarez Navarro, now ranked No. 118, completed her treatment in January and just four weeks ago received the news that she was ‘cured’ of the disease. But she has been back on court since December, and attributed her swift recovery to her hardwired athlete’s mentality.

“Fortunately, I’m feeling fine,” Suarez Navarro said, reflecting on the past nine months. “The pandemic affected all of us in one way or another. With the illness, I tried to be quiet and calm. I wanted to inform people, to share my day to day.

“Probably my personality helped me to overcome the illness. Tennis players are used to living with difficult moments on their own, and overcoming their lowest days.”

One of the most popular figures on the tour, Suarez Navarro announced in late 2019 that the following season would be her last on the tour. She made what was set to be her final appearance for Spain in Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas – then Fed Cup – in a 3-1 win over Japan in Murcia, one month before COVID-19 protocols sent the tennis world into lockdown.

'I’d love to play my fourth Olympic Games. If we qualify this year, and we have the chance, Garbine and I will play'

Of all the moments she considered lost, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics stood out for Suarez Navarro. While Beijing and London had been stand-out experiences, in Rio she and doubles partner Garbine Muguruza had designs on winning a medal for Spain, only to fall in the quarter-finals.

“When the Games were cancelled in 2020, I hadn’t been diagnosed yet and it was a big disappointment,” she said. “The Olympics are very special. It is difficult to put it in words, but I’d love to play my fourth Olympic Games. During my illness, when I was a bit down, thinking about the Olympics helped me a lot to be more positive.

“I did have medal aspirations at Rio 2016. I knew that I could reach the medal rounds. If we qualify this year, and we have the chance, Garbine and I will play.”

For now, though, thoughts are on Roland Garros and her first competitive action since the Qatar Total Open in March 2020.

“I probably haven’t trained enough, because I was discharged in April, but my heart wants to play in Paris,” she admits. “I want to play Wimbledon, The Olympic Games and New York, the US Open. After all I have been through lately, I want to say goodbye to tennis on a big court and play my favourite tournaments.

“Roland Garros is my favourite tournament. I first played there in 2008 – I beat Amelie Mauresmo, a former world No. 1 and home favourite, on Court Philippe Chatrier. That was that moment when people started to notice me. Then, at the Australian Open in 2009, I beat Venus Williams on Rod Laver Arena.

“Those are the kind of matches that define your career. It was very special. I love to play in big arenas – you work hard for those moments. Usually I enjoy the big stadiums, full of people. The adrenaline goes up, but the fear and the nerves can make you fail. It is a matter of learning how to deal with the pressure.”

'After all I have been through lately, I want to say goodbye to tennis on a big court and play my favourite tournaments'

Suarez Navarro’s return also means another chance to get acquainted with one of the most aesthetically satisfying strokes in tennis, her one-handed backhand. It is a rare breed in modern tennis, more-so in the women’s game, and has long been the Spaniard’s trademark shot.

“Back in the old days, people used to play one-handed backhand and my trainer played it a lot. I learned, and with lot of practice it became natural. It is not an easy stroke to do in tennis but something that fits with my game.

“I lived in the Canary Islands – Gran Canaria – and it was a small place. I always played with the same people. I decided to move to Barcelona and the way I trained completely changed. I realised that I raised my level for the big tournaments.”

Still based on the Spanish mainland, Suarez Navarro sees her future back in the Canary Islands someday.

“I want to rest, to spend time with my family,” she said of her plans for retirement. “I have a restaurant with my brother in Las Palmas, so I’d like to dedicate more time to it. I have some projects in mind. The quality of life is good in the islands – perhaps I will live outside the islands for a few more years, but long term, I’d like to go back.

“I’d like to be a mum. I wanted to do it before, but while you’re competing it is difficult because you must be out of court for a year, minimum. And I want to dedicate my time to the family without tennis. That is what I have in mind.”

How about captaining Spain’s Billie Jean King Cup side one day?

“It is not in my plans,” she said. “It requires lot of responsibility – it’s not an easy role. Anabel Medina Garrigues was a player, and you must be in the player’s skin.

“With the doctors, physios, the stringer, captain, everyone, I have a good relationship. They cared for me during my illness. With the girls, we see each other quite often – we have lunch, dinner. You become friends by sharing that team environment, and the victories are also more intense because you share them together.

“Let’s see what happens this year; I’d love to play Billie Jean King Cup one last time. Billie Jean King is an icon, a legend, and tennis has evolved thanks to her. We must get used to the name and she is a great ambassador.”

Grand Slams, Olympic Games, Billie Jean King Cup – Suarez Navarro is determined to sign off in style. And of all the welcome sights tennis can bestow upon us in the wake of the previous 12 months, that arcing one-handed backhand will surely rank among the most heart-warming of them all.