Tennis: Erin Routliffe reflects on being rocked by Gaby Dabrowski’s breast cancer diagnosis

Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski won the WTA finals in Riyadh late last year. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi tennis star Erin Routliffe was rocked when she learned of doubles partner Gaby Dabrowski’s cancer diagnosis.

The Canadian last week revealed that she found out she had breast cancer back in April, which led to two surgeries and radiation therapy.

Routliffe said she was kept in the loop by Dabrowski the whole time and tried to be as supportive as possible, with the pair still having their best year as a team by winning the WTA finals, reaching the Wimbledon final, the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarter-finals at the US Open.

Dabrowski delayed further treatment to compete at Wimbledon and the Olympics, where she won mixed doubles bronze.

“It was obviously really, really scary. I’ve never had anyone really close to me have cancer. Somebody so young, fit, athletic, healthy - really scary,” Routliffe said

Dabrowski even had radiation therapy two weeks before the US Open, which the pair entered as defending champions.

Routliffe said the ongoing treatment had major physical impacts on the Canadian’s abilities throughout the year.

“Everything affected her. Getting surgery and going through that there was a lot of fatigue. Sometimes she was sick, and then obviously in between Wimbledon and US Open having to do radiation two weeks before - you never know how your body’s going to handle radiation so she was dealing with a lot.”

However, Routliffe believed the challenge may have aided their partnership on the court.

She said it took their support for one another to a higher level, as tennis became an “escape”.

“When you’re comfortable with each other, then you can play your best. When you’re enjoying it, you can play your best. I think it did make it more enjoyable because it gives you a different perspective.”

The pair were meant to play together at the ASB Classic, but were forced to pull out due to a rib injury Routliffe picked up during their victorious WTA finals run in Riyadh.

The Kiwi said the rib was feeling okay, but needed to be managed.

“It’s hard. It’s like a day-by-day thing. I’ll hit this week more intensely so I’ll know a little bit more then but [I’m] definitely feeling a lot better than I was three weeks ago. So it’s definitely progressing in the right direction and [I’m] hoping to be good for Melbourne.”

Routliffe tempered expectations of a blockbuster showing in 2025’s first major, which gets under way on Sunday, admitting her preparation has been hindered by the injury.

“Probably have to have ... not low expectations, but I haven’t been able to hit or practice very much so I’m just going to take it one match at a time. But I know Gaby and I can beat whoever‘s in front of us if we’re playing the way we want to play and being aggressive.

The duo are training together in Auckland this week and Routliffe said there were a couple of key focus areas.

“Probably a lot of serving and returning. We know that’s really big for us. When we’re hitting our spots on our serves, I think we’re hard to break which makes us hard to beat.

“Also, just coming to the net a lot. We always are working on our net game ‘cause we’re a pretty aggressive team and when we do that, that’s when we get our best results.”

Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. As a child, he was never far from the footy field or the cricket nets and fostered a deep passion for sports media and broadcasting.