Dabrowski, Routliffe Defeated in Stormy Semis of WTA Finals

Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe’s bid for the title at the WTA Finals has come to an end. 

After several rain delays yesterday, the duo finally made up their match today against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australian Ellen Perez. 

The match didn’t quite go their way, losing in three sets 1-6, 7-6(1), 10-6. 

Perhaps thrown off by the storms and delays, Dabrowski and Routliffe got off to a rocky start in the first set but mounted a comeback in the second to push a 10-point tiebreaker in the third set. 

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The Canadian-New Zeland duo struggled to take advantage of their service games in the first set, only holding one of their three. Melichar-Martinez and Perez got off to a quick 3-0 lead before Dabrowski and Routliffe won the fourth game.  

Their attempt to try to make it a more contested opening set was quickly denied as Melichar-Martinez and Perez won the next three games to take home the first set. 

Where the first set was met with struggles, Dabrowski and Routliffe bounced back in the second. After winning 50 per cent of their first serve points in the opening set, they improved it to 70 in the second. 

The improvement wouldn’t come right away, however, as they could not muster a game win until the fourth when a break of serve put the Canadian-New Zealand team back on track.  

With their backs against the wall down 5-4 in the ninth game, they converted a much-needed break point to even the tides. The second set eventually ended in a tiebreaker with Dabrowski and Routliffe converting four minibreaks to even the sets at one a piece. 

The third set went in a much different fashion than the way the second ended. Melichar-Martinez and Perez converted four minibreaks, propelling them to a breezy 10-6 victory in the final moments of the match to send them to the finals. 

With a loss today, Dabrowski will now shift her focus to the Billie Jean King Cup finals which begin this week in Seville, Spain. Team Canada will face Spain on Wednesday, Nov. 8 and Poland on Thursday, Nov. 9.