Gabriela Dabrowski Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis; Delayed Treatment for Wimbledon

Gabriela Dabrowski revealed on Tuesday that she played through the 2024 season after undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She competed at Wimbledon and in the Olympics after delaying part of that treatment.

She revealed the breast cancer diagnosis, which she received in April, on her Instagram.

"The preliminary results came back that day: cancer," she wrote in the post. "These are words you never expect to hear, and in an instant your life or the life of a loved one turns upside down."

She said she had two surgeries at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and rehabed in April and May before "a slight delay in further treatment" allowed her to compete at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics. She and her partner, Erin Routliffe, lost in the Wimbledon final to Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. She won bronze in mixed doubles in Paris with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Dabrowski said she chose to wait to reveal the diagnosis to avoid "the possible attention and questions" she'd get before she had the chance to "figure everything out and handle things privately."

"For a long time I wasn't ready to expose myself to the possible attention and questions I'd have gotten before," she said. "I wanted to figure everything out and handle things privately with only those closest to me in the loop. There were so many unknowns and so much learning and research to be done. Currently, I'm in a 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."

After her Wimbledon final appearance and bronze medal at the Olympics, she and Routliffe won the WTA Finals to round out the season.

"My mindset shifted from 'I have to do this (play tennis and not waste my skills)' to 'I get to do this,'" she wrote. "Through this lens I find it so much easier to find joy in areas of my life I previously viewed as a heavy weight."