GRAND SLAM INSPIRATION
Gabriela Dabrowski holds court
Winning two Grand Slam doubles titles and almost winning a third in the past 15 months have without doubt generated positive attention for Gabriela Dabrowski’s hometown.
Perhaps the best thing Dabrowski has done for tennis in Canada, though, may have been leveraging her celebrity to persuade the City of Ottawa to arrange for muchneeded repairs to the Russell Boyd Park courts where she first played and were officially named in her honour on Monday.
“So much blood, sweat and tears have been shed on this court, and it’s pretty remarkable that I’m still here years later,” Dabrowski, 26, said following a brief ceremony and a spirited hitting session with a handful of preteens.
“I practised on this court two days ago. It feels the same, just like I’m here, trying to get better. …
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be coaching some day, necessarily, but hopefully I’ll be trying to grow tennis in the community as best I can, and around Canada. If I inspire one kid to pick up a racket, to me that’s awesome.”
Nine or 10 girls and boys who had already done so volleyed questions at Dabrowski during an oncourt “campfire chat” lasting long enough for her right leg to temporarily bear a partial imprint from a racket on which it had been resting.
“What’s your best shot, and what’s your worst shot?” one boy asked.
“My worst shot, I can’t tell you,” Dabrowski responded before proceeding anyway to discuss the merits of backhands versus forehands and working to neutralize fears associated with playing any stroke.
Other discussion points with the earnest young audience included everything from Dabrowski’s tennis idol — Swiss star Martina Hingis — to swimming as an alternate sports activity that helps strengthen still-maturing bodies.
It was a polished performance by the No. 9 player in the Women’s Tennis Association doubles rankings, someone whose resumé features not only mixed doubles crowns from the 2017 French Open with Rohan Bopanna and 2018 Australian Open with Mate Pavic, but also another final appearance with Pavic in Paris in June.
Coincidentally, parents Jurek and Wanda Dabrowski never
played competitive tennis. Father and daughter had regularly played table-tennis in the basement of the family home, with a raised platform allowing a young Gabriela to see over the near edge of the table.
But everything changed when she was seven.
A friend from France, Hana Gwiazdowicz, brought her son, Christian, to Ottawa for an extended summer visit. With Jurek Dabrowski returning to work after several years at home with his daughter, Gwiazdowicz purchased rackets and took the youngsters to the neighbourhood courts.
Summer ended, but Gabriela Dabrowski’s passion for tennis had just been ignited.
“Of course, she was not doing perfectly, but she could run, she could hit the ball,” Jurek said. “So, Gaby says, after a month passed and they were leaving, ‘Can I continue? Can you find somebody for me to hit with?’ That’s how it started.”
Where it goes next is British Columbia, where the athlete who’s also 551st in the world singles rankings has been granted a wildcard spot in the Vancouver Open, a tournament on the affiliated International Tennis Federation circuit. Then there will be a short vacation trip with an Australian friend from Florida before Dabrowski heads to New York for mixed and women’s doubles in the U.S. Open, this year’s final Grand Slam event.
She and China’s Yifan Xu, women’s doubles semifinalists at Wimbledon in July, were upset by Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard and American Sloane Stephens in the first round of last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal, but that created a larger window of opportunity for Dabrowski to practise on the resurfaced courts that will presumably forever bear a plaque with her name and a civic proclamation.
“Billie Jean King said pressure is a privilege, and that means you earned your spot to compete among the best players in the world and you have to treat it like you belong here,” Dabrowski said.
“I have worked hard to be here and I want to continue to be here, and how do I do that? What are the things in my game that need to improve? How do I maintain this level? On a bad day, how do I get a little bit better?
“So, I think if I approach it with that type of mentality, then it’s not also about, ‘I need to keep winning or else.’ That’s too hard on any human in any facet of life.”
While the city covered some costs for work on the Gabriela Dabrowski Tennis Courts, including such line items as technical drawings, the rest came from a multi-year, $1-million “community contribution” by the Tomlinson Family Foundation.
And it’s not done yet. Jurek Dabrowski said one of the two courts would receive an acrylic covering that would not only make it appear more like something his daughter would see at the U.S. Open, but would also provide a side-by-side comparison to an asphalt covering on the second court to determine the best option for Ottawa’s climate.
“I’m from a Communist country. I left in 1981,” said Jurek Dabrowski, originally from Poland. “I could not achieve what I dreamed of. It was almost impossible.
“She is achieving everything that I dreamed of over there. For me, it’s like a double joy. It’s almost like I’m enjoying what she is enjoying right now.”