Ana Konjuh returns to the field. After five months she is playing again, and her first performance will be at the second Grand Slam tournament of the season - the French Open. Ana's opponent in the first round is Carla Suarez Navarro. As of now, Ana could be on the field on the very first day of the tournament, Sunday, May 27th.
Suarez Navarro, a 30-year-old Spaniard, is the 23rd seed. Predictably after only two matches played in the last ten months, Ana has moved down the list, and is ranked 104th now. Last summer, before her recent arm health issues, she was the 20th player on the WTA list, which was her best ranking yet. In her career, Suarez has won two WTA titles, and Ana one. The Spanish player had the best ranking at the beginning of 2016 when she was sixth in the world. She played twice in the quarter-finals of the French Open 2008 and 2014. Quarter-finals were her best achievements at both the Australian Open (2009, 2016 and 2018) and the US Open (2013), while at Wimbledon she achieved the best results in 2013 and 2016 when she played in the 4th round. Ana's best results at the Grand Slam tournaments were quarter-finals at the US Open in 2016 and the 4th round of Wimbledon last year. In the last three years, she played second rounds at the French Open.
Konjuh and Suarez Navarro were once rivals, in the 2nd round of the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 when the Spaniard won 7: 6 (5) and 6: 3.
The winner of the first round will play the winner of the match between Luxembourg player Mandy Minella, ranked 307th and 39th world tennis player, Greek Maria Sakkari. In Ana's part of the draw is the 21-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, the 14th seed, who may be her opponent in the 3rd round, and 27-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki, the second seed, who may be the 4th opponent.
Up to now, Ana has had three surgical operations. The first in the beginning of 2014, the second in September last year and the third in March this year. She rested for four months after the second operation, and returned to Brisbane on December 31st, 2017. The start was great, and she won the first match, but she started feeling the arm pain again in the next match. After that, a further break, and a new operation on her arm.
"Let's go again, from the beginning. This is another one of my returns to the field, hopefully the last one this kind" Ana said optimistically.
