Number 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe beat number 7 seeds Chan-Hao Ching and Veronika Kudemertova 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 in the opening double match of the White Group at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Dabrowski and Routliffe, who reached the semifinals at the 2023 edition of the WTA Finals, saved one set point in the tie-break of the first set.
Dabrowski and Routliffe has drawn to 1-1 in their head-to-head matches against Chan-Hao Ching and Kudemertova, who came back from one set and a break down to win their previous clash against in the US Open quarter finals by the scoreline of 4-6 7-5 6-3 last September.
Dabrowski was broken in the first game after a lob-smash combination by Kudemertova. Dabrowski and Routliffe went down 2-4, but they broke Chan back in the seventh game.
Chan saved two set points when she was 5-6 down to force a tie-break.
Dabrowski fended off a set point with a smash.
Dabrowski and Routliffe converted their third opportunity as Chan hit a forehand long to win the tie-break 8-6.
Dabrowski and Routliffe broke serve in the fifth game of the second set to take a 3-2 lead. Dabrowski double faulted to drop serve in the next game, but she hit another smash to earn the decisive break again for 4-3. Dabrowski and Routliffe sealed the win on their first match point.
“I feel like sometimes, that can bring almost a tension to the match. I felt pretty relaxed ost of the time. That was a tough loss at the US Open, and because it was a tough loss, we learned a lot from it. Sometimes those tough losses allow you to improve next time you have the opportunity, and today that was our opportunity”, said Dabrowski.
