GABRIELLA Taylor has gone from tennis strokes to brush strokes.
The former British tennis sensation has given up her promising athletic career to become an artist.
4
4
4
4
Taylor reached her highest singles ranking of 162 in 2018, the year in which she was selected for Great Britain’s Fed Cup squad for a tie in Japan.
The 25-year-old also made her first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon that year, losing to Eugenie Bouchard in three sets in the first round.
But having made over $200,000 on the professional tour, Taylor quit the sport in December 2020 after severe anxiety and panic attacks had overwhelmed her.
“I’d actually been suffering for a few years and hadn’t realized,” Taylor told BBC South Today.
Read more on tennis
“When the pandemic hit, it was a real struggle mentally for me, like it was for a lot of people.
“When I first stopped playing it was really hard to know what to do.
“But slowly I got a lot of help and support from family, friends, my team and the LTA, which I’m totally grateful for.”
Taylor turned her attention to painting and she has sold a number of her works privately.
Most read in Sport
Some paintings even hang in galleries.
“I’m really enjoying life at the moment and really grateful for the opportunities,” Taylor said.
“It wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to be doing what I am now such a short time ago.
“A couple of my paintings have been hung in a gallery in Winchester, which has made me super happy and is also really exciting.
“I’m still learning the basics and trying to find my artistic style.
“But I’m grateful to (artist) Daniel Hooper for his help and direction, as it takes a lot of patience to build up your skills.”
Taylor’s career was overshadowed by an alleged poisoning incident during Wimbledon girls’ qualifying in 2016.
She spent four days in intensive care after becoming seriously unwell during her quarter-final match.
Taylor was diagnosed with a rare strain of Leptospirosis, which can be transmitted through rat urine.
Read More on The US Sun
London’s Metropolitan Police investigated “an allegation of poisoning with intent to endanger life.”
“The bacteria the infection team found is so rare in Britain that we feel this could not have been an accident,” her mother Milena said.