Gabriela Dabrowski announces cancer diagnosis in 2024

Gabriela Dabrowski (David Iliff, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Canadian Press on Tuesday, Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, Ontario was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024. Dabrowski did not compete for three months this season as she took the clay court season off between the end of the Miami Open on hard court and the beginning of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham, England on grass.

Dabrowski’s decision not to compete on clay this year meant she missed the French Open. This was a grand slam event where she won alongside Rohan Bopanna of India in mixed play seven years ago. Dabrowski and Bopanna defeated Anna-Lena Gronefeld of Germany and Robert Farah of Colombia 2-6, 6-2, [12-10].

Dabrowski has two other grand slam doubles titles. She won alongside Mate Pavic of Croatia to win the mixed doubles title at the 2018 Australian Open. Dabrowski and Pavic defeated Timea Babos of Hungary and Bopanna in the final, 2-6, 6-4, 11-9. Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand then won the women’s doubles final of the 2023 United States Open, where they beat Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia, 7-6, 6-3.

In 2024, Dabrowski and Routliffe won Nottingham and the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia. She also reached the finals in Eastbourne, Wimbledon and Toronto. In the summer, Dabrowski made Canadian sport headlines as she teamed up with Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec to win the bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime beat Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6 in the bronze medal match. This was Canada’s second Olympic medal ever in tennis. The first came from Daniel Nestor of Toronto, Ontario and Sebastian Lareau of Montreal, Quebec, as they won gold in men’s doubles tennis at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.