Gabriela Dabrowski’s bid to become the first Canadian to lift to multiple trophies at the same major in the same year ended early on Thursday morning as the Ottawan and her American partner Evan King were defeated in the Roland-Garros mixed doubles final by Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
Up against the top mixed doubles team in the world, Dabrowski and King set themselves up well to pull an upset by taking the opening set. But once the Italians, who were looking to defend their Roland-Garros title, got rolling, there was little the challengers could do to stop them. Errani and Vavassori completed the comeback to secure their fourth Grand Slam title in the last seven majors with a 4-6, 6-2, 10-4 win.
Canadians are now 0-5 in French Open finals across all disciplines since Dabrowski’s victory in Paris in mixed doubles back in 2017. This was her fourth mixed doubles final at Roland-Garros. She reached three straight from 2017 to 2019, winning the first with Rohan Bopanna before losing back-to-back finals with Mate Pavic to Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig.
Read also: Auger-Aliassime Out in Roland-Garros Quarters
Dabrowski and King came racing out of the gate on Thursday morning, taking the first three points of the match on Vavassori’s serve to create a quadruple-break-point chance in the opening game. The Italians clawed back to deuce but on the deciding point, Errani couldn’t handle a backhand and the Canadian-American duo scored the quick break.
With the early lead, they kept their foot on the gas. When Errani served in the third game, Dabrowski and King ripped three straight winners to break to love to make it a double break. The Italians eventually reclaimed one of the breaks, clawing back to 4-3, but they were never able to fully recover from their slow start. The North American pair hung on to their last two service games to secure the opening set.
Read also: Masters Update by ABRYSVO - Another Strong Performance by Canadian Women in Vancouver
Errani and Vavassori flipped the script in the second set, breaking King’s serve on their way to a quick 3-0 lead. They had the American’s number in the second, breaking him again the next time he stepped up to the line to go up 5-1. While they did manage to break Errani when she served for the set and got as close at 5-3, Vavassori slammed the door with a hold to love when it was his turn to serve it out.
A backhand miss from King on the opening point of the match tiebreak gave the Italians the early minibreak, which they quickly turned into a 3-0 lead. The next 10 points would go to the servers until, serving down 4-7, Dabrowski had a tough go on her delivery. The Ottawan double-faulted on her first service point then missed a backhand on the second to give the Italians five match points at 9-4. They only needed one as Vavassori found a backhand winner on the first to claim the title.
Read also: Upsets Define Week One at Roland-Garros
Dabrowski still has a chance to leave Paris a champion. She and Luisa Stefani will take on Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the women’s doubles semifinals on Friday.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
