A Wimbledon tennis finalist has revealed she is fighting cancer – playing her matches as she recovered from surgery. World number 3 Gabriela Dabrowski told she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in April – undergoing surgery prior to her appearances at the South London tournament.
She told how she first spotted a lump last year only for it to be dismissed until a later scan spotted the disease. Posting to her 36,700 followers she told how she decided to keep what was happening quiet while she figured “everything out”.
Now she is telling her story in the hope of helping others. And she warned: “Early detection saved lives.”
Posting on Instagram the star wrote: “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 OK and I will be OK. Early detection saves lives. I can wholeheartedly agree with this.”
Erin Routliffe stood by partner Gabriela Dabrowski as she went through her cancer treatment
(Image: Getty)
The 32-year-old told how she had discovered the lump in 2023 when examining her own breasts. She said: “A few months later a doctor told me it was nothing and not to worry So I didn’t. Time went on, and in spring 2024, I thought the lump was a little bigger.”
The star told how it was a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) physical that finally led to the diagnosis. She said: “During our WTA comprehensive physicals, a WTA doctor told me she was’t sure what it was and to go and get it scanned.”
Gaby had a mammogram and then an ultrasound, which led to a biopsy when the radiologist reading the images warned it “did not look like a cyst”, telling her: “It looks ugly”. She had this the following day and was told it was cancer.
She said: “These are words you never expect to hear, and in an instant, your life of the life of a loved one turns upside down.” The star went on to undergo two operations, recovery and rehab before returning to the courts in June.
She won her first tournament back in Nottingham with partner Erin Routliffe then put off treatment to play at Wimbledon, where the two women finished as runners-up, beaten by Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the final. The pair then ended the season winning the WTA Finals, leaving Gaby ranked third in the world.
She said she was sharing her story now after getting a grasp of where she was with her health and treatment. She said: “For a long time I wasn’t ready to expose myself to the possible attention and questions I’d have gotten before. i wanted to figure everything out and handle things privately with only those closest to me in the loop.
“Currently I’m in a better place where I have a better grasp of my treatment, side-effects and how to manage them. Please know I am fully aware of how lucky I am as well, because many do not get the luxury of being able to tell their story at all.”
She said she realised she wanted to raise awareness in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She said: “I caught myself wanting to share posts I saw avbot the importance of early detection, healthy eating and living habits, experts to learn from, podcasts that offer advice and comfort (shoutout @beatingcancerdaily). This feeling of wanting to contribute to others in a positive or helpful way was the beginning of this post.”
She added: “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.”
Thanking people who had helped her throughout her journey she said she would be “eternally grateful”. And she said the diagnosis had changed her life.
She wrote: “If you saw me smiling more on court in the past six months, it was genuine. That wasn’t always the case.”
She said over “many years” she had been working on her attitude her cancer diagnosis was the “catalyst” for change. She said: “Then the threat of losing everything I’d worked for in my entire life became as real possibility, only then did I begin to authentically appreciate what I had.
“Loving parents and friends, amazing coaches, a doubles partner who stuck by me, a real team, access to health care experts and to play a game for a living…To cancer I say **** you, but also, thank you.”