NEW YORK — Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open women's doubles tournament with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Lauren Davis of the United States and Czechia's Anastasia Detiuc on Thursday.
It was a successful Grand Slam debut for Dabrowski and new doubles partner Routliffe, who grew up in Canada and represented the country from 2009-17.
The 16th-seeded pair dominated after dropping the first set, facing just three break points over the second and third sets and saving them all.
Dabrowski and Routliffe broke their opponents three times in the last set while winning 80 per cent of return points before Dabrowski wrapped things up with an ace on match point.
The pair is playing in its fourth tournament after the partnership started at the National Bank Open in Montreal. Dabrowski and Routliffe scored a big win last week in Cleveland when they defeated top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the quarterfinals.
Routliffe and Dabrowski, who has 13 doubles titles and has reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in five of the last six years, will next face Taiwan's Fang-Hsien Wu and China's Lin Zhu.
The sixth-seeded team of Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and American Taylor Townsend were scheduled for a second-round match Friday against the Spanish tandem of Aliona Bolsova and Rebeka Masarova.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023.
The Canadian Press