Photo: Martin Sidorjak
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Giuliana Olmos saw their run at the WTA Finals come to an end on Saturday night in Forth Worth, Texas.
The pair was defeated by Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens 7-6(5), 6-2 in their final round-robin match to finish the group stage with a 1-2 record which puts them outside the top two in the Pam Shriver doubles group. Dabrowski and Olmos had to win their last encounter in order to earn a spot in the semifinals.
The opening set was close from start to finish with both teams exchanging breaks early on. They remained on serve the rest of the way thanks to four set points saved by Dabrowski and Olmos on serve to get themselves into a tiebreak. The Canadian and Mexican duo fell behind 1-5 in the tiebreak and saved a fifth set point before Kudermetova and Mertens converted their sixth opportunity.
They carried their momentum into the second frame and broke serve at love right out of the gate in the opening game and never looked back. Dabrowski and Olmos did their best to get back on serve with four break point chances in the sixth game, but their opponents didn’t flinch. With the victory, Kudermetova and Mertens finished atop the group with a perfect 3-0 record.
The loss means that Dabrowski’s 2022 WTA season has come to an end. It was another impressive year for the 30-year-old who won three more doubles titles to bring her career total to 13. She also achieved a career-high ranking of no. 4 in July and earned a coveted spot amongst the elite eight at the WTA Finals for the fourth time. She’ll now head to Glasgow to represent Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals beginning later this week.
