WTA Charities launches third annual ACEing Cancer campaign in Indian Wells

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA and WTA Charities are launching the third annual ACEing Cancer campaign to support women’s health and wellness. The campaign will run through the end of the year and all proceeds raised will be donated to the fight against women’s cancers. 

The ACEing Cancer initiative began in 2019 and the first research grant was dedicated in memory of former WTA player Elena Baltacha, who lost her fight to liver cancer in 2014 at the age of 30.

The 2021-22 campaign will be dedicated to the memory of WTA Legend and Hall of Famer Jana Novotna, who died from cervical cancer in 2017 at the age of 49 and would have celebrated her 53rd birthday on October 2 just a few days ago. 

Throughout October, WTA athletes including Carla Suárez Navarro, a former Top 10 player who recently underwent treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and Barbora Krejcikova, who was coached and mentored by Jana Novotna, will support ACEing Cancer by sharing personal stories.

Additionally, several other WTA players have joined the ACEing Cancer campaign giving their reason for joining the fight against women’s cancers. Players and officials will also be wearing pink masks with WTA Charities and ACEing Cancer messaging during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. 

“So many in our WTA family of players, tournaments, partners, and friends have been personally impacted by cancer,” said Ann Austin, WTA Charities Administrator. “Supporting the groundbreaking research of the American Cancer Society through the ACEing Cancer campaign is our way of honoring the legacy of the many WTA family members who have been impacted by this terrible disease.” 

With the money raised in 2019 and 2020, ACEing Cancer and Cancer Research Racquet funded a research project at Duke University Medical Center, through the American Cancer Society that examines how to treat dormant tumor cells in breast cancer survivors.

According to the research proposal, the goal of the project is that the “findings will directly lead to better treatment strategies that use the immune system to find and kill any remaining dormant tumor cells, resulting in longer lives for breast cancer survivors.” 

The WTA will select this year’s research grant recipient following the conclusion of the fundraising campaign at the end of the year.

To learn more about the ACEing Cancer initiative including how to make a donation, visit wtatennis.com/aceingcancer.