Some athletes can go to any extent to move ahead in their career.
When Romania's Simona Halep found it uncomfortable to move around the tennis courts she opted to undergo a breast reduction, taking her from a 34DD to a 34C in 2009.
Soon, she rocketed up the world rankings and is now really hitting her stride, climbing to No 2 in the world.
Now, the World No 2 is to have an operation on her nose after an illness-plagued start to the year which ended with a first-round exit from the Australian Open earlier this week.
The Romanian will skip next week's Fed Cup match against the Czech Republic and tournaments in Dubai and Doha but hopes to be back on court to defend her title at Indian Wells in March.
"The last six weeks have been extremely difficult for me, as I’ve
"This has been one of my most frustrating periods, as I’ve not been able to train or stay healthy even though I’ve constantly been on antibiotics to help clear the infections.
"I gave it my best shot in Australia but, with the infections still in my body, unfortunately I made things worse, as I pushed myself to compete and fight in a grand slam.
"Under doctor's advice, I will undergo surgery to fix the on-going problem with my nose - and I've been advised that this is my best option and success is highly likely."
Halep was knocked out of the year's first Grand Slam by Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.
At the time of her operation for breast reduction, Halep had said, 'I don’t like them in my everyday life, either. I would have gone for surgery even if I hadn’t been a sportswoman.’
Her coach Wim Fissette said her breast reduction had been 'an important part of her career.'
Let's hope the nose surgery helps her climb the ranking charts again.
