In 2013, then-unknown WTA pro Vicky Duval stunned former US Open champion Samantha Stosur at the U.S. Open. With the victory, she rose to a No. 89 world ranking. However, less than a year later, at 18 years old, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma while playing at Wimbledon.
“The doctor prepared me and he said ‘This is not going to be easy. You’re gonna have days where you’re gonna feel horrible, you’re gonna feel like crying, you’re gonna complain all the time. And after the first round, I reacted very well,” Duval told Trans World Sport. “And then it hit me. I practically couldn’t eat for three months, and I ended up cutting my hair off. It was life-changing.”
During that difficult time, Duval traded in her tennis racket for sketch pads.
“Art has been a big part of my life for many years,” she said ahead of the 2018 US Open. “It’s gotten me through a lot of obstacles in my life.”
After beating cancer, she started her own company, Dooval, to sell t-shirts featuring her artwork, with a percentage of the proceeds going back to cancer research, and to help grow the game of tennis for youth.
As part of her mission, Duval has partnered with USTA’s Net Generation, and that’s why at this year’s US Open, you might see people wearing t-shirts with Duval’s own creation, the Net Generation logo made up entirely of her hand-drawn designs.
Her work has also been given the grandest stage in the sport. She was commissioned by the USTA to design a piece celebrating Net Generation and the US Open’s 50th Anniversary. The picture, entitled, “The Big 50”, plays on New York’s Big Apple theme, and is hung inside the Net Generation Arcade booth onsite at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the duration of the tournament.
“It’s definitely a surreal moment. Just to see my art being displayed on such a big stage at such a big event is something I’m so grateful for,” Duval said.
And, Duval isn’t stopping at the US Open.
“My dream for Dooval is to raise a million dollars through a gala and give it to cancer research.”
To see more of Duval’s designs, find Dooval on Instagram, @DoovalArt, and her website Dooval.com.
