Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski takes part in practice for the Billie Jean King Cup tennis qualifiers against Belgium, in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe have advanced to the U.S. Open women's doubles semifinals. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
NEW YORK – Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe have advanced to the U.S. Open women’s doubles semifinals.
The duo outlasted sixth seeds Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Taylor Townsend of Chicago 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) in a two-hour, 31-minute quarterfinal match on Tuesday.
After evening the match by taking the second set, the 16th-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe jumped out to a 4-1 edge in the third and final set.
However, Fernandez and Townsend won three straight games to even it up. After taking a 6-5 lead, they failed to capitalize and Dabrowski and Routliffe forced a tiebreak.
Having taken a 7-2 edge in the tiebreak, it was Dabrowski and Routliffe who almost fell apart as Fernandez and Townsend got six of the next seven points to tie it up. But after an unforced error gave Dabrowski and Routliffe match point, they capitalized with a backhand volley winner to advance.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will play the winner between third-seeded Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff and the eighth-seeded duo of Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh and China’s Xinyu Wang.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2023.
