Carla Suarez Navarro

Carla Suarez Navarro is a former Spanish professional tennis player, who has competed on the WTA Tour since 2003.

Date of Birth:	3 September 1988
Birthplace:	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Residence:	Barcelona, Spain
Height:	5'4" (162 cm)
Weight:	137 lbs (62 kg)
Plays:	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Turned Pro:	2003

Carla Suarez Navarro was born on September 3, 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Caria, Spain, to handball player Jose Luis Suarez and former gymnast Lali Navarro. After starting to play tennis at the age of nine, she moved to Barcelona in 2007 to train at the Pro-Ab Team Tennis Academy.

In her first season on the WTA Tour in 2008, Suarez Navarro had immediate success at Grand Slam level. She reached the quarter-final of the French Open, which included a second-round victory against two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Suarez Navarro made her first WTA final in 2009 on home soil at the Andalucia Experience but lost in the final in three sets to Jelena Jankovic. She also achieved a second Grand Slam quarter-final at that year’s Australian Open, including a thrilling 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph against Venus Williams.

The following three years were less successful for the Spaniard at Grand Slams. She did progress to two more WTA finals during this period. The first was at the 2010 Andalucia Experience, being defeated in three sets this time by Flavia Pennetta, and the second was at the Portugal Open, ending in another loss in three sets to Kaia Kanepi.

Suarez Navarro returned to the quarter-final of a Grand Slam at the 2013 US Open. She won an exhilarating fourth-round contest against Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, before falling to Serena Williams.

Suarez Navarro also reached two finals in the same season for the first time at the Mexican Open and Portugal Open, but once again, she finished as the runner-up at both. The Spaniard won her first title in May 2014. In her third consecutive final at the Portugal Open and her sixth in total, she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Suarez Navarro also achieved a fourth Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2014 French Open. 2015 saw Suarez Navarro break new ground at WTA 1000 level. She reached two finals at the Miami Open and the Italian Open in Rome. Her run in Miami contained an epic win against Venus Williams before losing to her sister Serena in the final.

She came very close to winning the final in Rome but fell 6-4, 5-7, 1-6 to Maria Sharapova. Suarez Navarro claimed the second and biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 event in Qatar in 2016. She faced the future French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the final. Despite losing the first set 6-1, Suarez Navarro came back superbly to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and reign supreme in Doha.

The Spaniard achieved three more Grand Slam quarter-finals in her career, but never managed to get to a semi-final. Her final three quarter-finals were at the 2016 and 2018 Australian Open and the 2018 US Open.

Suarez Navarro announced her retirement from tennis in 2020, but just a few months later, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Fortunately, she was declared cancer-free the following year and played one more season on the WTA Tour. Suarez Navarro retired at the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.