On Instagram, Gabriela Dabrowski is now telling about how she received the news in mid-April 2024 that she had breast cancer.
"These are words you never expect to hear, and immediately your life and that of your loved ones is turned upside down", says the Canadian, who won the US Open in doubles in 2023 and has two mixed doubles titles from the Australian Open and the French Championships previously.
She underwent two operations to remove the tumor and received radiation therapy. Further treatment had to wait until after the major summer tournaments, Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.
"I'll be okay"
On the grass at Wimbledon, she and New Zealander Erin Routliffe reached the doubles final, and at the Olympic Games, she won bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
She and Routliffe then ended the tennis year by winning the doubles tour final in Riyadh.
Dabrowski writes that the time after receiving the cancer diagnosis has been surreal. She explains that she wanted to wait until she had figured everything out before sharing her story, and she has only shared her battle against cancer with her closest friends.
"I'm okay now, and I'll be okay. Early detection (of cancer) saves lives, and I can wholeheartedly agree with that", she writes.
New perspectives
The 32-year-old doubles specialist says that her perspective on her tennis career and life has changed.
"When the threat of losing everything I've worked for my whole life becomes real, that's when I started to truly appreciate what I have. My mindset has changed from 'this is what I want to do' to 'this is what I have to do'".
