“Be the best tennis player regardless of the ranking next to my name”

Gabriela Dabrowski showed her gift in tennis for the first time, at the age of seven. Her parents and even herself were surprised by her good comments about her ability in this sport and the truth is that she had never taken a class.

Twenty-three years later, she is at the first WTA 1000 in Guadalajara, where she chatted with El Economista prior to her first doubles match in the company of Mexican Giuliana Olmos. ‘Gaby’ likes to be very clear in her responses and she highlights above all what is her life motto today: “I never pay attention to the rankings, I try to be the best player I can. The ranking next to my name doesn’t keep me up at night. It has never been my goal to be number one.”

Dabrowski is not pressured to reach the top of the ranking, an idea shared by Giuliana, who pointed out in a conference: “I don’t feel pressure and I prefer to enjoy being in Guadalajara. I don’t want to focus too much on winning, it’s enjoying and taking advantage of the opportunity”.

The Canadian-Mexican duo, which is currently in the Top 10 of the doubles ranking, has played some 20 tournaments in 2022 (including the Guadalajara Open) and has been crowned in two: at the WTA 500 in Tokyo, Japan on September 25 ; and at the WTA 1000 in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. In her career, Giuliana has five doubles titles and Gaby has thirteen. They could add one more to their account if they are crowned in Mexico. Both come from playing the final at the WTA 500 in San Diego, where they lost to Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, a duo that is also in Guadalajara.

_What do you think they should still work on as a duo to improve their game strategy?

”We have only lost in the last second half of the year really against the best teams. So I think it will just be about raising our level because we have come very close to the latter stages in many games. I think we have to continue to be brave in the big moments, work together to find what strategies work against the best pairs, “Gaby replied to this newspaper.

marisol.rojas@eleconomista.mx