No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe got their WTA Finals Riyadh campaign off to a winning start by defeating No.7 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(6), 6-4 after saving one set point in the first-set tiebreak in the opening White Group contest.
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Dabrowski and Routliffe, the 2023 semifinalists, levelled the head-to-head between the teams at one win apiece, having fallen to Chan and Kudermetova 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the US Open quarterfinals from a set and a break up. Afterwards, Dabrowski said that she had not thought of the rematch in terms of revenge.
"I feel like sometimes, that can bring almost a tension to the match," she explained. "I actually felt pretty relaxed most of the time [...] That was a tough loss at the US Open, and because it was a tough loss, we learned a lot from it. Sometimes those tough losses allow you to improve next time you have the opportunity, and today, that was our opportunity."
Dabrowski was broken in the opening game of the match thanks to a canny lob-smash combination by Kudermetova, and trailed 4-2 in the first set. But their instincts for swarming the net came to the fore as they broke Chan back in the seventh game. Though the Chinese Taipei player saved two set points down 6-5 with booming serves to force a tiebreak, Dabrowski and Routliffe continued to be the more solid players in the forecourt. Dabrowski saved a set point with an emphatic smash, and they converted their third as a Chan forehand sailed long.
Dabrowski and Routliffe also had to bounce back from an unfortunate tumble for Routliffe during their set-point save. Back-pedalling to allow Dabrowski room, she ended up flat on her back and required a medical timeout between sets.
"I think I tripped over my own two left feet," Routliffe joked afterwards. "Thankfully Gaby hit an amazing overhead!"
Dabrowski and Routliffe pulled away in the second set, winning four of six deciding points. Having broken Kudermetova to take a 3-2 lead, Dabrowski double-faulted the break away in the following game -- but came up with another excellent smash to break Chan again for 4-3, a lead that proved decisive.