Former World No.6 Carla Suárez Navarro of Spain has fond memories of Qatar for more than one reason as she bid goodbye to Doha for the last time in her career spanning 17 long years. It was in Doha she picked one of the two singles titles.
The Spaniard, who announced her retirement at the end of the 2020 season, lost her second round tie to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in three sets at the Qatar Total Open on Tuesday.
In 2016, Suárez Navarro held aloft the famous Falcon trophy at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex with the Premier 5 Doha title remaining as her biggest career title.
“I do have beautiful memories, great feelings about this tournament. And of course, every year is different, and knowing that I was playing here for the last time makes it really special,” Suarez Navarro.
“Well, I’m just eager to try to keep playing at my highest level knowing that each match will be… a little complicated,” she added.
“I know it’ll always be ‘the last time’. The only thing that sometimes I worry about it leaving too early from tournaments. I would like to enjoy the tournaments a bit more, play lots of matches, but well, at the moment I think I’m handling everything well.”
Last season she reached only two quarter-finals - in Dubai and San Jose - and her ranking slid down by 20 spots to finish the year outside the top 50 for the first time since 2011.
But it was not for the rankings but more of a personal decision as the 31-year-old and having played tennis nearly non-stop since the age of nine and now simply wants some rest.
“Honestly, it’s been a lot of years in tennis, lots of travel. And you know, when you’re young, you don’t value certain things that, as you get older, become more important to you,” Suárez Navarro said.
“So, I really wanted to spend more time with my family: the only way to do that would be to play less, or to stop playing completely. But tennis isn’t a sport that allows you to play less because then you lose your ranking, you miss big tournaments, lose your fitness.”
“Although obviously, I am getting older and sometimes I’m feeling that the day-to-day grind is getting more difficult, I feel it more now,” she added.
“But again, it was totally personal. I just want to be with my family, and it was finally time to say, ‘Okay, we’re done, we’ve still got 2020 and we’re going to make the best of it.’”
Suárez Navarro was blown away by the reaction of her WTA peers, who bombarded her with texts and messages during the off-season, when she made her retirement plans public and continue to pull her aside at tournaments to lament her departure.
“Some of them start to get a little sad, but when I explain things to them they all understand,” she said.
“It’s a normal thing, someone retiring, but to be honest it makes me a bit proud that they all have this affection for me, that they’re going to be sad to not see me around.
In her farewell season, Suárez Navarro continues to think tournament by tournament, match by match making sure to stop at all of her favourite tournaments.
“It was a decision that I gradually began speaking with my team about, and in every moment they’ve respected me. But I didn’t want to just say, ‘Okay, I’m done playing, goodbye’. I wanted to have one last year and go to tournaments that I really enjoyed, where I’ve played good tennis and where they’ve been treating us well for many years.”
Suárez Navarro still has no set plans for life after tennis.
“I hope people remember me for being someone that always treated others well and had respect for everyone,” Suárez Navarro said.
“That’s the most important thing.”
“As a player, I hope people remember me for being a fighter. And for my one-handed backhand,” she added with a grin. “That’s probably what people will remember most about my game, right?
“It makes me proud too, because to have such a signature shot that people remember you for it and think it’s beautiful, for me that’s special and I’m so proud of that.”
