Both Gabriela Dabrowski and Félix Auger-Aliassime extended their stays in China on Saturday, with Dabrowski potentially leaving the Chinese capital with a shiny souvenir.
The Ottawan, alongside Luisa Stefani, will compete for a fifth WTA title this season after beating Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in the China Open semis. It will also be a second-straight final for Dabrowski and Stefani, following their Sao Paulo triumph last month.
Dabrowski and Stefani had a flying start to their final-four contest as the Canadian-Brazilian tandem broke twice in the opening set to go 5-2 in front. However, Mertens and Shnaider pushed back and prevented the second seeds from serving out the first, soon bringing the set to 5-4. Dabrowski and Stefani found their grove again at the right time, though, breaking on the first try at 4-5, love-40, to take the opener.
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The stronger start went the way of Dabrowski and Stefani once more in the second. The duo broke in the third game and consolidated to lead 3-1, but on this occasion, Mertens and Shnaider completed their comeback bid. From 3-2, the sixth seeds scored back-to-back breaks to gain the chance to serve out the second at 5-3, and did so successfully to force a match tiebreaker.
An early mini-break put Dabrowski and Stefani in a tough spot in the decider as the pair trailed as much as 2-5. Undeterred, the Canadian-Brazilian team won their next three points on return and were in the driver’s set at 8-6. The Dubai champions made no mistake in serving out the match, winning both points behind their delivery from 8-7 to punch their ticket into the Beijing final.
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Dabrowski and Stefani will battle top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Shuai Zhang for the title on Sunday.
Auger-Aliassime Survives Ugo Carabelli in Shanghai
It wasn’t an easy opening match for Félix Auger-Aliassime at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Despite the Canadian No. 1 having the clear edge on the concrete against Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Auger-Aliassime had to come back from a set down to ultimately get past the Argentine by a score of 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 on Saturday.
Ugo Carabelli was a tough customer on serve as he was only broken twice on 14 attempts. A few poor service games from Auger-Aliassime led to him losing serve twice in the match, but the 26-year-old from Montreal was powered by his 42 winners – 33 across the final two sets – en route to the finish line.
Auger-Aliassime knew it was going to take a lot to secure the break right from the opening set. The world No. 6 held 11 break points, starting with five in the fourth game. Ugo Carabelli just needed three tries to score the match’s first break, forcing the loss of serve at 3-3. The Argentine No. 9 comfortably consolidated to go within a game of the set at 5-3.
After fending off break and set point at 3-5, 30-40, Auger-Aliassime did everything he could to keep the first alive. The Montrealer had five break opportunities in the tenth game, but Ugo Carabelli fought them all off once again as the world No. 77 closed out the set.
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Auger-Aliassime turned things up to begin the second, though. The Canadian broke on the first try at 0-1, 15-40, and conceded just one point through four service games to lead 5-2. However, the 26-year-old faced his only bump when serving for the set at 5-3. Ugo Carabelli broke, then equalized on his own delivery to extend the second.
The eventual tiebreaker was all Auger-Aliassime from the start. The Canuck earned back-to-back mini-breaks to take a swift 3-0 advantage and did not drop a service point the rest of the way as he clinched the set.
Auger-Aliassime extended his streak to 16-straight service points won to begin the third, but his spell was put to an end in the sixth game as he had to save break point to keep the set level at 3-3.
The Canadian had to be patient for his chance, and it eventually came late in the decider. Auger-Aliassime scored the crucial break at 5-5, 30-40, and backed it up by serving out the match. The win was his first alongside new coach, Ivan Ljubicic.
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Auger-Aliassime’s next match will be against former National Bank Open titlist Pablo Carreno Busta on Monday.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
