Ottawa’s Dabrowski, partner Routliffe advance to U.S. Open women’s doubles semifinals

NEW YORK – Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe have advanced to the U.S. Open women’s doubles semifinals.

The duo outlasted sixth seeds Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Taylor Townsend of Chicago 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) in a two-hour, 31-minute quarterfinal match on Tuesday.

After evening the match by taking the second set, the 16th-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe jumped out to a 4-1 edge in the third and final set.

However, Fernandez and Townsend won three straight games to even it up. After taking a 6-5 lead, they failed to capitalize and Dabrowski and Routliffe forced a tiebreak.

Having fallen behind 7-2 in the tiebreak, Dabrowski and Routliffe picked up six straight points to get ahead. After an unforced error gave Dabrowski and Routliffe match point, they capitalized with a backhand volley winner to advance.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will play the eighth-seeded duo of Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh and China’s Xinyu Wang on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2023.

Note to readers: This is a corrected version. A previous version stated Dabrowski and Routliffe were ahead 7-2 in the tiebreak.