Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani fell short of a second WTA 1000 final this year as the No. 3 seeds lost to Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 in the Miami Open presented by Itaú semifinals on Friday.
The Canadian-Brazilian team have reached the semifinals in all but one big event this season, hoisting the trophy in Dubai.
Dabrowski and Stefani saved over half of the seven break points they faced in the match, but their second delivery led to most of their stress on serve. The duo won only 30 per cent of their second-serve points, just seven of 23.
Neither side conceded on their delivery in the first 11 balls of the match before Dabrowski fired a return winner to end the perfect service run. At 1-1, 40-15, Siniakova served out the hold on the next point. The Canadian was under some pressure in the ensuing game on sudden-death deuce but got a bit of fortune thanks to a double net cord to keep the set level.
In the sixth game, aggressive returning from Dabrowski and Stefani led to triple break point and, after some confusion with the scoreboard, the Canadian-Brazilian duo converted on the first attempt. The No. 3 seeds coupled the break with a hold and later had a pair of set points at 3-5, but Townsend served well to keep the opener alive.
Dabrowski and Stefani quickly gained another chance to close out the set at 5-4, 40-15. Siniakova and Townsend saved the first, then a deft drop volley from the Ottawa-native sealed the opener.
The Canadian-Brazilian team were on the back foot early in the second, losing the first eight points to trail 0-2. Undeterred, Dabrowski and Stefani responded by converting on their first two break points of the set for a 3-2 advantage, but Siniakova and Townsend broke back to equalize at three apiece. The Czech-American duo put the pressure back on Dabrowski and Stefani with break and set point at 4-5, 15-40, and the second seeds were able to force a match tiebreaker.
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Siniakova and Townsend managed to score the first mini-break just prior to the changeover, leading 4-2, then won three points on the bounce after switching ends to increase their edge to 7-2. The No. 2 seeds secured a third mini-break before getting back on serve at 8-3, and the duo served out the match to reach their first big-event final since the US Open, where they lost out to Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe.
Feature Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne
