Dabrowski and Routliffe win U.S. Open women’s doubles, beating 2020 champs Siegemund and Zvonareva

Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe defeat 2020 champs Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva in the U.S Open women’s doubles.
| Photo Credit: AP

Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe won the U.S. Open women’s doubles title in just their fourth tournament together, beating 2020 champions Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (9), 6-3 on Sunday.

It was the first Grand Slam women’s doubles title for both Dabrowski, a Canadian, and Routliffe, who is from New Zealand. The No. 16 seeds in Flushing Meadows first paired up earlier this summer in Montreal.

After the lengthy tiebreaker in which both teams had set points, Dabrowski and Routliffe quickly seized control in the second set by breaking Zvonarena’s serve in the first game, then Siegemund’s in the third for a 3-0 lead.

The No. 12 seeds won the next two games and were within 4-3 after Siegemund held during a lengthy game, but Dabrowski and Routliffe won the next two games to close it out.

Siegemund and Zvonareva were playing in their first tournament together when they won the title at Flushing Meadows, with no fans attending because of COVID-19 restrictions. They have won four championships as a team.

Siegemund, who cried after being booed by fans for playing slowly when she lost to women’s singles champion Coco Gauff in the first round, was thankful to have them in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.

“It was just great to play with people again, not like in 2020,” Siegemund said.