Tathiana Garbin is still moved today when she thinks of Jannik Sinner’s message before her operation for the very rare tumor that affected her: “I’ve known him since he was a kid, I couldn’t take it anymore… what a beautiful person”.
Tathiana Garbin last week he was at the Foro Italico in Rome to follow the Italian Internationals: back on track – da captain of the women’s national tennis team, with which last November she came close to winning the Billie Jean King Cup in Seville, the equivalent of the Davis Cup for men – after the difficult period of operations and treatment for the very rare tumor that affected her. An illness with which she is fighting and which however has allowed her to discover how much people love her, first and foremost Jannik Sinner who moved her live with his dedication after winning the Davis Cup in Malaga: “Crazy stuff“, Tathiana remembers now.
Tathiana Garbin has been the Billie Jean King Cup captain since 2016
That magical evening at the end of November, Italy had beaten Australia in the final and Sinner showed up at the conference knowing full well that Garbin would have to undergo her second operation the next day after the September premiere: “Tomorrow is an important day for Tathiana – he said, taking everyone by surprise and causing a lump to form in the throat – Let’s hope this victory can give her strength. We will all be with her. Here we talk about winning the Davis Cup, yes, that’s nice, history is being made and we’re all happy. But what matters to her in life is something else entirely. We should feel very fortunate to be in this position that we are and will all be with her“.
Words that deeply touched the 46-year-old from Veneto: “Yes… wait a minute – answers a specific question in the interview with Libero, forced to stop because she is still moved today – Crazy stuff, when I heard the words of Jannik, who I’ve known since he was a kid, I couldn’t take it anymore… Nice person, him. We text each other, his secret is that when he speaks he always uses we and never I. He is aware that results are achieved with a well-functioning team. And that’s how it is. It works like this in my blue team too“.
Sinner breaks the silence with a cryptic message: “We will come back stronger.” How is he doing after the injury?
Jannik Sinner can become world number one at Roland Garros
Garbin then returns to the discovery of her illness, lo pseudomyxoma peritonei: “Last fall I was returning from the US Open and I often felt severe stomach pain. The diagnosis was terrible: pseudomyxoma peritonei, a very rare tumor of the appendix. They told me it affects one person in a million and I thought: I’ll get on the pitch and try to win this match too. I’ve had surgery twice. The doctors told me that there was little hope of solving the problem“.
Between the two operations there was the Billie Jean King Cup final in Seville: “They were incredible days: the girls, who knew about the tumor, were close to me like daughters. All of them, from Paolini to Errani. I thought that, after all, I had lived 46 magnificent years and that memory made up for everything, even the chemotherapy. Between one surgery and another I lost 10 kilos“.
