In the first few months of a new doubles partnership with Brazilian Luisa Stefani, Canadian tennis player Gabriela Dabrowski has found plenty of success.
Dabrowski won her sixth-career WTA 1000 doubles title in Dubai in February. More recently, the pair made it to the semifinals of the Miami Open, before falling to American Taylor Townsend and Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic.
There was also a run to the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier in the season.
“I’m so pleased with not just our results, but also how we’ve supported each other along the way,” Dabrowski said in an interview this week with CBC Sports. “We’ve played a lot of tough matches and we’ve had a lot of great discussions together alongside our team, who have helped to guide us really well through some of the challenging matches.”
Off the court, that success has translated to more than $7,700 US, and counting, that Dabrowski has donated to charities working to end violence against women.
‘I can’t really look away from this’: Gabriela Dabrowski on her charitable initiative
It’s part of a pledge the Ottawa-born tennis player has made this season to give $20 from every game won to the 1in3 Fund. Its name is a nod to a statistic that Dabrowski couldn’t look away from.
“One in three represents the statistic of women and girls above the age of 15 who have faced physical or sexual violence,” Dabrowski said. “To me, that statistic when I heard it was very staggering because that’s what we know that’s reported. So quite frankly, it’s probably higher. You probably know someone who has faced violence in some way.”
The fund was created after the 2024 murder of Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was doused in gasoline and set on fire by an ex-boyfriend. She was the third East African female athlete killed since 2021.
“I don’t want her death to be in vain,” Dabrowski said. “I want something really positive to come out of not just my campaign, but the one in three movement in general.”
The money goes to seven different global charities aimed at eliminating gender-based violence.
That includes the Kenya Land Alliance, which advocates for equitable land and property rights for women.
“Our funding approach emphasizes organizations and programs that are evidence-based, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable,” the fund’s website says.
Dubbed Gaby’s Games for Good, Dabrowski has set a goal of winning 600 games this year to donate $12,000.
“The rest of the season, I hope to stay as healthy as I can, keep competing, hopefully win a lot of matches and do a lot of good through that,” she said.
Injuries have been a challenge for Dabrowski so far this season.
She’s been dealing with lingering elbow and shoulder injuries from last season, plus a knee injury and a plantar fascia tear in her left foot.
She had flights booked to compete for Canada at the recent Billie Jean King Cup in Kazakhstan, but those injuries forced her to withdraw.
“A couple days before I was like, I just can’t do it right now. I need to pay more attention to my body,” Dabrowski said. “That was really disappointing because I wanted to be there and help the team.”
She’s been doing about two hours of rehab each day as she works toward a long stretch of competition in Europe.
Dabrowski has been open about her battle with breast cancer, which was detected after a doctor at the Miami Open recommended a scan in 2024.
She’s on long-term medication, and focuses on good sleep and nutrition to try to mitigate any side effects of the hormone therapy.
“I do scans every six months, mammogram and then MRI and those have been clear so far, fortunately,” Dabrowski said. “[I’m] very grateful for all that.”
On the court, her partnership with Stefani has been a long time coming. The pair played together in 2021, and made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open before Stefani suffered a “traumatic” ACL rupture.
They partnered again in 2023, but it didn’t quite work out. In the meantime, Dabrowski played with New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe, and they won the U.S. Open women’s doubles competition in 2025.
The third try for Dabrowski and Stefani came this season, after spending time on their friendship.
They have great trust between them, where they can be honest about how they’re performing, Dabrowski said.
“[There is] really good energy between us, great competitive spirits, working together to problem solve,” she said. “In terms of when I first felt it in a match, it was probably our first match back. But I had a feeling before. We played together in previous years and I see how our game styles mesh together. You hope for the best and definitely we’ve had a great run so far.”
