CINCINNATI — Gabriela Dabrowski from Ottawa and Erin Routliffe hailing from New Zealand triumphed in the women’s doubles at the Cincinnati Open, securing the title with a straight-sets victory over China’s Guo Hanyo and Russia’s Alexandra Panova on Sunday evening.
The dynamic second-seeded pair of Dabrowski and Routliffe, who also claimed the U.S. Open women’s doubles crown earlier in the year, dispatched the unseeded duo of Hanyo and Panova with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3 in just 80 minutes on the illustrious P&G Center Court during this WTA 1000 event.
Exhibiting superior performance, Dabrowski and Routliffe dominated in several pivotal statistics, including aces (5-1), total winners (22-19), and first serve success (71% to 63%). They also excelled in breaking their opponents’ serve, winning 33% of return games compared to only 11% for Hanyo and Panova.
In contrast, Hanyo and Panova struggled with 17 unforced errors and recorded one double fault during the match.
Before reaching the final, Hanyo and Panova made headlines by toppling the top-seeded Italian team of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory in the semifinals on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Dabrowski and Routliffe faced a grueling semifinal against the sixth-seeded pairing of Australia’s Ellen Perez and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok, ultimately winning 3-6, 6-3, 12-10 in a nail-biting contest on Friday.
Notably, Routliffe also clinched the Cincinnati women’s doubles title last year, partnering with American Asia Muhammad.
