It wasn’t to be for Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand-born Erin Routliffe in the women’s doubles championship on Saturday at Wimbledon as the pair fell 7-6(5), 7-6(1) to Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend who were more opportunistic at key times during the tightly-contested final match.
The Czechian-American tandem, seeded fourth at the tournament, fired five aces and won 78% of their first serve points in the 2 hour and four-minute victory.
The title marks a ninth career Grand Slam crown for Siniakova and a first for Townsend.
With the roof closed, both teams played fast paced doubles in the early stages, dictating play with their net games.
On Routliffe’s serve at 3-4 in the first set, the American-Czechian duo created their first break point opportunity, though it was staved off by the second seeds. That turn of momentum proved key, as the pair broke Townsend’s serve in the following game to seize a 5-4 advantage.
Photo – Martin Sidorjak
However, the fourth seeds replied with a break of their own, as Townsend finished the 10th game with a delicate volley winner to level the set at 5-all.
Siniakova found a key return winner at 5-4 in the tiebreak to bring up two set points, and she and Townsend would capitalize, taking the opener 7-6(5) in 54 minutes.
In the second set, Dabrowski and Routliffe had two break point chances early on, but Townsend and Siniakova used their sharp angled volleys to stay on serve. The escape proved to propel their return game as they put consistent pressure on the Canadian-Kiwi duo with great depth and placement on their returns, but the second seeds managed to resist en route to another tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, Siniakova and Townsend moved ahead 3-0, as the American closed two points with overhead winners. They would carry that momentum, winning three of the next four points to build a commanding 6-1 lead that proved too much for Dabrowski and Routliffe to overcome.
Despite the loss, Routliffe will achieve a career-first by becoming the new doubles World No. 1 on Monday and Dabrowski will reach a career-high ranking of no. 3.
