Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski reveals cancer treatment amid run to Olympic bronze
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Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe celebrate with the trophy after winning their women's doubles final match at the WTA Finals.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MONTREAL – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski divulged on Dec 31 that her run to Olympic tennis bronze in Paris 2024 came as she received treatment for breast cancer.
The 32-year-old doubles specialist wrote on Instagram: “How can something so small cause such a big problem? This is the question I asked myself when I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in mid-April.
“I know this will come as a shock to many, but I am okay and I will be okay.
“Early detection saves lives. I can wholeheartedly agree with this.”
Dabrowski said she discovered a lump in her left breast during a 2023 self-examination, but at that time was told its size meant there was no cause for concern.
A year later, it was larger and she underwent a biopsy and received the diagnosis.
“Those are words you never expect to hear, and in an instant your life or the life of a loved one turns upside down,” said the 2023 US Open women’s doubles champion, who also won the 2017 French Open and 2018 Australian Open mixed doubles titles.
She also said that her “surreal” second half of the 2024 season included two operations and radiotherapy, before slightly delaying further treatment to compete at Wimbledon and the Olympics.
She teamed up with New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe to finish runners-up at Wimbledon and won mixed doubles bronze in Paris with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
She and Routliffe also won the doubles crown at the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh in November.
Dabrowski said she waited to share her story because she “wanted to figure everything out and handle things privately with only those closest to me in the loop”.
Now, she says, her perspective on her tennis career and life has changed.
“When the threat of losing everything I’d worked for my entire life became a real possibility, only then did I begin to authentically appreciate what I had,” she said.
“My mindset shifted from ‘I have to do this’ to ‘I get to do this’. Through this lens, I find it so much easier to find joy in areas of my life I previously viewed as a heavy weight.”
Her post was met with an outpouring of support from WTA colleagues, including Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, with the latter calling her “effin strong”.
Routliffe said she was “lucky” to be by Dabrowski’s side through it all.
“Here’s to more smiling in 2025,” she said. AFP
