Wimbledon finalist Gabriela Dabrowski revealed her breast cancer diagnosis Monday in an emotional social media note.
The 32-year-old Canadian, who was diagnosed in mid-April, said she is okay now after undergoing two surgeries at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.
Captioning the Instagram post, “The Unseen of 2024 🩷,” Dabrowski explained that she delayed treatment to compete at Wimbledon, where she and doubles partner Erin Routliffe lost in the finals.
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.”
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 emphasized that early detection saves lives.
“To cancer I say f–k you, but also, thank you,” Dabrowski concluded.
