Russian’s comeback will inspire Hutchins

 
GETTY
Chris Jones27 August 2013

Russian Alisa Kleybanova is hoping her recovery from Hodgkin’s lymphoma will inspire Britain’s Ross Hutchins, who has been battling the same disease.

Kleybanova was forced off the women’s tour in January 2011 while she was treated for the form of blood cancer Hutchins has suffered. Both have received worldwide support and Hutchins hopes to play again next year.

The Russian, who was No20 in the world rankings before her lay-off, made her Grand Slam comeback last night and showed no sign of fatigue as she defeated Monica Puig 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 after more than two and a half hours on court at the US Open.

She then revealed she had sent a message of support to Hutchins, the British Davis Cup doubles player. She said: “I tried to get in touch with him when he got the diagnosis. I emailed him. I guess he had a lot of people around him, a lot of attention

“Basically, all the tennis world was supporting me. But in that situation, for me it was like playing a match. I didn’t want to be distracted. I just wanted to do it. As a professional athlete, I didn’t want to show my weaknesses.

“I didn’t want to suffer in front of other people. I appreciated a lot that close friends, my family, were around me.

“I wrote to Ross saying, if he needed anything, I’d give all my support and I hoped he was going to win this battle as I did. I’m fine that he didn’t get back to me.

“It’s very tough to go through those things. I guess he did it very well and I’m very happy for him.”

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