‘This is unbelievable’: Tennis champ hid diagnosis from everyone

An Australian Open champion has come clean on the devastating diagnosis she hid from everyone during an extraordinary year.

Three-time grand slam champion Gabriela Dabrowski has revealed she hid a devastating breast cancer diagnosis from everybody this year.

The 32-year-old Canadian, who was diagnosed in April, said she is “feeling OK” now after undergoing two surgeries at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville in the United States.

In an emotional social media note that came from out of the blue, Dabrowski shared her news with a title of “The Unseen Of 2024”.

Dabrowski explained in the note that she delayed treatment to compete at Wimbledon, where she and doubles partner Erin Routliffe lost in the finals, The New York Post reports.

Dabrowski also competed at the Paris Olympics this summer, winning a bronze medal in the mixed doubles competition.

“In the Spring of 2023 I felt a lump in my left breast during a self-exam,” Dabrowski wrote. “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.

“During our WTA comprehensive physicals, a WTA doctor told me she wasn’t sure what it was, and to go and get it scanned. First, a mammogram… second an ultrasound… Third… a phone call from the radiologist reading the images, alerting me to a lump that did not look like a cyst due to its uneven edging and shading.”

Erin Routliffe (left) and Gabriela Dabrowski (right) triumph at the WTA Finals in November. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images for WTA.

Dabrowski said the preliminary results of a biopsy of her left breast showed cancer.

She added she kept her diagnosis quiet because she didn’t want the news to become part of her identity.

“For a long time I wasn’t ready to expose myself to the possible attention and questions I’d have gotten before,” she wrote. “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.”

Dabrowski went on to explain that her cancer diagnosis changed her perspective and shifted her mindset — and emphasised that early detection saves lives.

Gabriela Dabrowski (left) of Canada and Mate Pavic (right) of Croatia pose after winning the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open. AAP Image/Narendra Shrestha.

“To cancer I say f*** you, but also, thank you,” Dabrowski concluded.

Dubrowski won the Australian Open mixed doubles event in 2018 and also reached the semi-finals in the women’s doubles draw at the 2024 Aussie Open.

Her story has inspired many.

Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado posted on X: “Gabi Dabrowski played with a cancer in 2024. Incredible stuff.”

Canadian sports broadcaster John Horn wrote: “This is unbelievable. Dabrowski not only didn’t say a word all year about her cancer & continued to play but to win an Olympic medal several weeks after surgery & then winning the year end Doubles Finals is remarkable.”

Another fan posted: “Dabrowski doesn’t get talked about enough. What a warrior.”

— This story originally appeared on The New York Post and has been republished with permission