Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, a former top-20 player who has won two WTA singles titles, plans to return to competition by the middle of this season, a considerable accomplishment for an athlete who has been fighting cancer for the past two years.
?I?m looking for this year for sure and actually the first half of the year, I think,? Kleybanova said in a telephone interview from West Palm Beach, Fla., where she is training. ?I don?t know right now if it?s going to be two months or three months or four months, but I?m pretty sure that I?ll start playing before the summer.?
Although Kleybanova, 23, said she is ?not even training at full power? now and doctors have not released her to play tournaments, she?s confident about her recovery and, eventually, playing a complete tournament schedule.
?I?m a fighter, I?ve been a fighter through my whole life, and I?m sure I can do it again,? she said. ?It?s just about working hard, taking your time, and being patient in what you do.?
In 2010, Kleybanova won titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in February and Seoul, South Korea, in September and achieved her career-best No. 20 ranking in February 2011. As the season wore on, however, fatigue set in, and she complained of continual flu-like symptoms.
At the Italian Open in Rome in May 2011, she found herself unable to recover after a first-round win against Varvara Lepchenko of the United States and had trouble moving in a second-round 6-3, 7-5 loss to Israel?s Shahar Peer. She decided to stop playing to seek an explanation. That?s when doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin?s lymphoma.
She revealed the diagnosis on the WTA?s Web site on July 15, 2011, her 22nd birthday.
Ten months later after receiving treatment in Perugia, Italy, Kleybanova secured a wild card into the Sony Ericcson Open in Miami in March 2012. Although she won her first test against Sweden?s Johanna Larsson, she fell in the next round to Maria Kirilenko of Russia in straight sets.
Looking back, Kleybanova said that she may not have been ready to compete but that she doesn?t regret playing. ?I was really looking forward to being back,? she explained after a training session with her coach, Julian Vespan. ?I decided to play Miami because I took a chance and they gave me a wild card.?
Despite the victory in her first comeback match, she said she realized that her body wasn?t ready for a full competition load.
Now ranked No. 548, Kleybanova said she is looking forward to being medically cleared and getting back to competition. She said she was unsure about the type of tournament she?ll enter: a large event with the help of a wild card or a smaller event to help raise her diminished ranking.
?I feel like I need to test myself before I go on a big court because, as I said, it?s been too much time since I?ve been out,? she said. ?I need to be sure, I don?t want to risk my health, and I don?t want to go to the important tournaments, play very tough matches from the beginning and not sure that I can do it.?
Kleybanova, also a former top-10 doubles player, plans to play both singles and doubles upon her return. ?I?m thinking to play singles, that?s the most important part. I?m thinking to play doubles as well, especially in the beginning to get more tournaments to get more matches going on,? she said. ?Especially in the beginning, I will need some matches.?
In January, before the Australian Open, Ross Hutchins of Great Britain revealed his own fight with Hodgkin?s lymphoma on Twitter. ?Unfortunately I will be away from tennis for a while as I was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin?s lymphoma,? he wrote. ?I am doing well, very positive with excellent medical support, friends and family around me.?
After hearing of Hutchins?s diagnosis, Kleybanova said she sent him an e-mail at the beginning of February. ?He has to know that in case he needs to talk or say something, I?m always there,? she said. ?I didn?t want to disturb him too much because, for sure, he has plenty of people around him at the moment saying many different things.?
In an interview with The Telegraph in London, Hutchins called Kleybanova?s success an inspiration. ?Everyone says take it easy, but I am a positive person and I will be looking to make it back onto the court as soon as possible,? he said. ?I saw that Alisa Kleybanova was back in 10 months. I?d like to play again before the end of the year, maybe be ready for Australia next year.?
Kleybanova said she believes that being an athlete has helped give her the strength to keep going. ?I?ve been doing sports since I was so little. I had my goals in life and troubles and problems. You learn how to be a champion since very little,? she said. She began playing professionally at age 14.
Kleybanova said she did not have lofty goals about regaining her ranking quickly. Instead, she said, she?s realistic about what?s next.
?I didn?t play a match yet so it?s too early to think about the ranking, how as far as I can go,? she said. ?Nobody knows it until I start playing. I want to take it step by step.?
And, she added, ?If I can be a little bit of an example for certain things I will be very happy about it.?
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