DABROWSKI Gabriela

General
DOUBLES FOCUS
Though she still plays singles on occasion, doubles is her main focus. Being a doubles specialist was not initially her plan. "It was not a natural progression. I would consider it a forced progression. In my early 20s I was struggling to break through in singles, but I was having consistently good doubles results. There came a point where I had to decide what to do. If I wanted to stay in tennis, I had to find a source of income. Doubles was my solution. My goal was to sacrifice singles and try to play some bigger tournaments in doubles and improve my ranking. You're on a mini team and problem-solving together and clicking together is special. It's not always easy to manage a partner, so to perform well and overcome obstacles is a great feeling." (sportsgazette.co.uk, 10 Mar 2021; cbc.ca, 08 Jan 2021)

DOUBLES ADVOCATE
She has served on the Women's Tennis Association [WTA] Players' Council as a doubles representative. "My goal is to be able to put doubles on the map a little bit more and have it gain respect like it does at World TeamTennis and the Olympics and a couple other tournaments. But broadcasters probably need to hear from the fans and from people who watch tennis and sports in general that they want to see doubles televised too. It's very tricky because broadcasters firmly believe that the only way to make doubles marketable is if top singles players play. They're convinced there's no other way at all." (ottawalife.com, 14 Jan 2021; cbc.ca, 08 Jan 2021)

PSYCHOLOGY
She has enlisted the help of psychologists during her sporting career. "I have worked with several sports psychologists throughout the past seven years [speaking in 2021]. This has helped me tremendously. A psychologist is trained to see your blind spots and where you get in your own way. This information helped me become more aware of the areas of my mind and game that needed attention. I also find focusing on breathing and implementing consistent meditations to my routine is key to maintaining good balance. Working on your body and mind is very important and it's great to just do a little bit every day. At one point, everyone can hit a tennis ball. But can you bring your level when it counts?" (ontennis.ca, 01 May 2021)