04/24/2021 8:25 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 04/24/2021 9:08 PM
Beatriz Garófalo
,
Gabriela
and
Ova Sabatini's
mother
, died this Saturday at the age of 81.
Betty, as she was known to her loved ones, had lung problems that had worsened after catching the
coronavirus
in September of last year.
The news impacted both the world of sports and entertainment.
Guillermo Vilas, an old friend of the Sabatini family, dedicated a tweet to Gaby in which it was enough to share the emoji of a
broken heart
to express his sadness.
💔 @sabatinigabyok
- Gᴜɪʟʟᴇʀᴍᴏ Vɪʟᴀs (@GuilleVilasOK) April 24, 2021
Eduardo Puppo
, one of the best known specialized journalists in the field, also dedicated a few words to the mother of the best Argentine tennis player of all time.
"Just an eternal hug to the heart, Gaby," he said.
Also pictured is Osvaldo, the Sabatini's father, who passed away in March 2016.
Venezuelan model and host Catherine Fulop, Betty's daughter-in-law, also shared a
sweet family photo
to show her feelings for her daughters' grandmother: "Mama Betty," she wrote.
Oriana and Tiziana appear there, Cathy and Ova's daughters, when they were little girls.
Gabriela Sabatini's mother, along with her granddaughters, Oriana and Tiziana.
As often happens in high-performance sports and especially in tennis, the role of Betty, Osvaldo and the entire Sabatini family was key as a support for Gabriela's career.
But Betty, from her role as mother, marked Gabriela's life far beyond sports.
Gaby herself recently told it in an interview, in which she revealed how much it helped her
overcome her shyness issues
.
"At school I have thousands of anecdotes about my mother, of taking me to the garden, when I was four years old I think I went. My brother was already in school because he is five years older, in the same school, and my mother, I remember that He left me the first day and I would stay at the window to see if I could see my brother. I wanted to go from there. He took me two or three times and the teacher said: 'Look, take her home and bring her more. go ahead because he can't be here. 'And so thousands of anecdotes, of making me ashamed to ask to go to the bathroom ... And well, I better not tell you what follows, but things like that ... or at recess that I was against the wall. It
helped me a lot my whole career,
"Gaby said in a report for
CNN
with Marcelo Longobardi.
In that report, Gaby also spoke about how concerned she was when the coronavirus reached her family, a situation that triggered this unfortunate end for her mother.
Just an eternal hug to the heart Gaby 😓
RIP Betty @sabatinigabyok pic.twitter.com/U8NeDJpNtb
- Eᴅᴜᴀʀᴅᴏ Pᴜᴘᴘᴏ (@puppotenis) April 24, 2021
"I was a little worried because my whole family got the virus. Well, my niece Oriana had already been infected in April and then my whole family got infected, including my mother, which was, let's say, the biggest fear with her. Luckily
they had a pretty good time all in all
, "said Gaby.
In September, Betty had to spend a few days hospitalized as a result of the passage of COVID-19 through her body. He was discharged but the damage that the virus had done to his lungs ended up leaving
sequelae
that became irreversible over the months.