Doubles world No. 3 Gabriela Dabrowski waited for December 31 to reveal that her year 2024 was marked by cancer battle. Despite navigating treatment, recovery, and ongoing health struggles in the past season, the Canadian tennis star showcased extraordinary resilience, capturing two WTA titles out of six finals and earning a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics alongside Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Dabrowski’s harrowing health journey began in the spring of 2023 when she discovered a lump during a routine self-exam. Initially reassured by doctors that it was nothing to worry about, her world was upended in mid-April 2024 when a biopsy delivered the devastating diagnosis: breast cancer.
Reflecting on the diagnosis, Dabrowski shared, “Early on in my diagnosis, I was afraid of cancer becoming a part of my identity forever. I don’t feel that way anymore. It is a privilege to be able to call myself a survivor.”
The road to recovery began with two surgeries at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. A three-month break from the WTA Tour followed, during which Dabrowski endured the physical and emotional challenges of rehabilitation. She recalled moments when her left arm couldn’t lift high enough for her serve, with her coach Patrick Daciek stepping in to toss the ball for her during training. Remarkably, just two weeks later, she returned to the court to claim the Rothesay Open doubles title in Nottingham alongside Erin Routliffe in mid-June.
Their momentum continued into Wimbledon, where they reached the final, ultimately falling to Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. To compete at Wimbledon and later at the Paris Olympics, where she secured a mixed doubles bronze medal with Felix Auger-Aliassime, Dabrowski delayed further cancer treatment.
Radiation therapy before the US Open tested Dabrowski’s endurance, yet she advanced to the quarterfinals in New York alongside Routliffe. Despite the fatigue and the onset of endocrine therapy, she concluded her season with an incredible victory at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, once again teaming with Routliffe to defeat Siniakova and Townsend.
Dabrowski’s cancer experience brought profound changes to her outlook on life and her career. “If you saw me smiling more on court in the past six months, it was genuine,” she said. “My mindset shifted from ‘I have to do this (play tennis and not waste my skills)’ to ‘I get to do this.’”
The 32-year-old expressed gratitude for the lessons the battle taught her, saying, “To cancer I say f*** you, but also, thank you. 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.”
