Morariu staging remarkable return after leukemia bout
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Corina Morariu, left, and Lindsay Davenport teamed to capture the women's Wimbledon doubles championship in 2000.
Advertiser library photo • Jan. 26, 2001 Sanex WTA Tennis Tour WHAT: Big Island Championships WHEN: From 10 a.m. each day through Sunday WHERE: Hilton Waikoloa Village Kohala Tennis Garden WHO: Seeded players remaining are No. 2 Lisa Raymond, ranked 25th in the world, No. 4 Elena Likhovtseva (380 and No. 7 Conchita Martinez (59) . ADMISSION: $20 today, $30 tomorrow and Sunday PURSE: $140,000 ($22,000 to winner) FREE CLINIC: For adults and children, 8:30-10 a.m. tomorrow |
Corina Morariu watched the world change from her hospital bed.
"I had no energy to do anything else," recalls Morariu. "It was a pretty bleak time. A year later, it's just amazing how resilient the country is and what it has overcome. That's inspirational."
Morariu has a history with resiliency. On May 17, 2001 — four months after she won her second Grand Slam doubles title — she was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia and immediately admitted to the hospital "in a critical state."
She would spend most of the next three months there, absorbing four rounds of chemotherapy. She couldn't climb stairs at her house she was so tired.
This week Morariu, 24, is playing in the Big Island Championships at Hilton Waikoloa Village. Her world ranking, once as high as 29 in singles and 1 in doubles, is long gone. But her game, incredibly, is back and her drive has not diminished.
Morariu played her first tour event in 14 months in July. She received a wild card into the U.S. Open last month — as she did on the Big Island — and lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the first round, advancing to the quarterfinals in doubles.
The enormity of her achievement was not realized in the singles scores (6-2, 6-3) at Arthur Ashe Stadium Court, but in the scowls. Unlike everyone else who watched, Morariu was not just happy to be there. She was ticked she lost.
"I am happy I'm healthy and out there," Morariu says, "but at the same time, the competitive drive is still there. I spent the last seven months building my body back up to do well. I did not play as well as I would have liked.
"All things considered it was a special occasion. It was a tough draw. I'd had only one singles match in 15 or 16 months. I've got to cut myself a little slack."
Her recovery is an "ongoing process," as her parents and brother — all physicians — will be the first to tell her. But doctors have cleared her to do whatever she wants.
After a few months pondering the options, Morariu realized that was still tennis, though "for the better part of my treatment I thought I was done playing. I was concentrating on living more than anything."
The sport provided her purest comeback challenge and most of her support group is somehow affiliated. Her husband, Andrew Turcinovich, is her coach. Her bridesmaids included Mary Joe Fernandez and Lisa Raymond, the No. 2 seed here who sent gifts to Morariu "almost every day" of her ordeal.
Kim Po-Messerli, Morariu's doubles partner this week, flew from Paris to spend the weekend with her friend when she was sick. Lindsay Davenport, who won the 2000 Wimbledon doubles title with Morariu, wore a necklace in her honor. Jennifer Capriati, not a close friend, waved a sign with get well wishes after winning in Australia this January. People she'd never met sent letters.
Morariu is here because of the wild card, and her decision to "enjoy the places I went when I started playing again." From Waikoloa, she goes to Tokyo, Bali and back to Tokyo. She is back on a full schedule and feels close to where she was before she left.
Even though much has changed.
"I'm not big on setting numeric goals," Morariu says. "I try to work hard and do my best out there. That's all I ask of myself. That hasn't changed since I was sick. It's still the goal. If it works out, great. If not, obviously I know there are worse things in life."
