Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner from New Zealand, Erin Routliffe, experienced a 6-4, 7-6 (3) defeat against Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend at the recent WTA Finals. Despite being the No. 3 seeds, Dabrowski and Routliffe held a 5-2 lead in the second set before Siniakova and Townsend staged a comeback.
Routliffe struggled to close out the set at 5-3, allowing Townsend to secure a crucial break with a return winner. In the ensuing tiebreak, Townsend capitalized on her first match point with a service winner, sealing the victory for her team.
This match marked a significant encounter as Dabrowski and Routliffe had previously defeated the same opponents in last year’s WTA Finals championship match and also in this year’s U.S. Open final, bringing their head-to-head record to two wins each.
Reflecting on the intense competition, Townsend mentioned in an on-court interview that losing to the same team, especially in close matches like the U.S. Open encounter, is always challenging. She highlighted the effort put into analyzing past matches and executing their game plan effectively.
The winning duo secured another pivotal break when the first set was tied at 3-3, with Townsend’s lob setting up Siniakova’s winning volley that disrupted Dabrowski’s serve and gave the No. 2 seeds control of the match. Townsend’s exceptional serving performance, remaining unbroken throughout, contributed to her and Siniakova’s 2-0 record in the group stage.
On the other hand, Dabrowski and Routliffe, with a 1-1 record, will face Timea Babos from Hungary and Luisa Stefani from Brazil in their upcoming final round-robin match.