Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
“What happened on match point? Big serve? Sounds about right,” Dabrowski said of Routliffe’s match-saving serve.
“It was such a challenge to try to raise our level,” she added. “To try to play against a team that plays a little bit differently than others, with Errani serve-and-volleying and stuff like that. It’s kind of things that we do, but don’t necessarily play against a lot. Pretty proud of us for the adjustments we made.”
Dabroswki and Routliffe improved to 2-0 after cruising to a straight-sets win over Chan Hao-Ching and Veronika Kudermetova.
“That was a really, really fighting match,” Routliffe said of Tuesday’s match. “I’m glad we put on a show for you guys, but I hope the next match won’t be as exciting.”
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
