When are you a winner even when you lose a match? When you are Nicole Gibbs, a cancer survivor at the age of 26.
"I’m definitely bummed out," Gibbs said of losing to reigning Wimbledon champion and No. 4 seed Simona Halep in a gutsy three sets on Tuesday in the opening round of the 2019 US Open. "At the same time, I think I do have a new perspective that it’s not life and death out there."
"I’m going to take a lot inspiration from this, try to carry it forward into what’s left in my year and my tennis career,” said the two-time NCAA champion when she was at Stanford before turning pro in 2013.
"I hope that there’s someone who’s going through a tough time that can take inspiration from my journey, feel like maybe they can turn it into something really positive the way that I hope I have,” she added.
After a routine dentist visit in May of this year, Gibbs' life was rocked when she learned that she had a rare form of salivary gland cancer. On May 17, she had surgery.
So to be back on the court in the US Open so soon won her the respect of Halep after her 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win in just under two hours.
"It’s tough when you don’t compete," said Halep, the 2018 French Open champion. "She made a great effort today on court."
Gibbs was pleased with her own competitiveness.
"I’ve always known that I’m a fighter, but to be through the journey I’ve been through over the past few months, to land myself on [Louis] Armstrong [Stadium] playing against one of the best in the game and going the distance, I think that really just reinforces it for me,” said the current world No. 135 and a lucky loser entrant.
A tenacious player who has seemed to have blinders on her eyes to keep focused on the court throughout her career, Gibbs now has a bit more of an open-minded attitude to her matches after her health scare.
"I was definitely looking up a lot more than I normally would," Gibbs said. "I always get made fun of on tour because I kind of keep my head down... Everybody says it’s the Gibbsy stare-down. I was trying to hold my posture a little bit better, take in the atmosphere [and] take a slightly different approach to the way I’m thinking about my tennis."
