Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani finally got their revenge against Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic to reach their first WTA final as a team since 2022.
The Canadian-Brazilian duo booked their place in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title match with a 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 victory on Friday, beating Danilina and Krunic following back-to-back semifinal defeats to the pair at the Australian Open and in Doha.
Dabrowski and Stefani’s return game carried them past the Kazakhstani-Serb duo on this occasion, converting on four of nine break points, all of which came in a dominant second set. In the match tiebreaker, the fifth seeds conceded just two points on return as they managed to serve out the match.
Early on, it looked as if Danilina and Krunic were on pace of their third-straight win against Dabrowski and Stefani to start the year. The fourth seeds secured the early break in the third game, but were nearly broken back at 2-1, love-40, however, Danilina and Krunic saved all break points to extend their advantage to 3-1.
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The Doha champions then cruised on their delivery, winning 12 of the next 15 service points to hold two set points at 5-4, 40-15. Dabrowski and Stefani forced a deciding point at 40-all, but a lob from Krunic sealed the opening set for her side.
Holds didn’t come easy in the second. The Canadian-Brazilian team broke in each of Danilina and Krunic’s four service games, while managing the only two holds of the set.
Dabrowski and Stefani’s fourth break was the one that wrapped up the second as Danilina fired her forehand long at 2-5, 40-all, to send the match the distance.
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Their strong returning carried over into the match tiebreaker, winning five-straight points on return to take a 7-3 lead. With Stefani serving on match point at 9-6, Krunic couldn’t get to Dabrowski’s deft drop volley, sending the pair into the Dubai final.
Dabrowski and Stefani will meet Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva in Saturday's title match.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
