Canada’s Dabrowski and Routliffe win U.S. Open women’s doubles title

Ottawa’s own Gaby Dabrowski and her partner Erin Routliffe won the U.S. Open doubles title for the second time in three years. CTV’s Kimberley Johnson reports.

NEW YORK — Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe are U.S. Open women’s doubles champions for the second time in three years.

They defeated top-seeded American Taylor Townsend and Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-4 in Friday’s final.

“The level of play, I thought, was really high,” Dabrowski said. ”I thought it was really high in our semifinal the other night against (Sara) Errani - (Jasmine) Paolini, an amazing team. It had to be high then. It had to be high today.

“That’s the level of women’s doubles that we’re seeing right now with these amazing players, and we’re really privileged to be a part of that conversation.”

Friday’s match, before a large crowd in cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium, had fans leaping to their feet at times to applaud the rallies, which often featured rapid-fire exchanges at the net.

“They played the big points better and they were a little bit more consistent, especially off of the returns,” Townsend said.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won here in 2023 in just their fourth tournament as a duo.

“I think the fact that this win comes two years after our first one is just different in the sense that we’ve put in a lot of work behind the scenes, and that’s reflected in a great result,” Dabrowski said. “So I’m actually most proud of that, that two years on we are still able to achieve the same thing, with a little bit of a different mindset.”

Dabrowski, 33, is an Ottawa native who also holds a Polish passport.

Routliffe was born in New Zealand when her Canadian parents lived there for a few years. She now represents that country internationally.

The 30-year-old Montreal resident grew up in Caledon, Ont., and played for Canada at the junior level and during a multi-year stint with Tennis Canada’s national high-performance program. Her sister Tess has won multiple Paralympic swimming medals for Canada.

“Playing for New Zealand, I’m so grateful for that and it means a lot to me,” Routliffe said. “But obviously there’s the two – like, Kiwi-Canadian. That’s who I am. But I’m obviously very Canadian, so to have a Canadian team win a Slam – or two Slams, now – is pretty phenomenal. I wish that people talked more about this because there are so many people on Tour that are like me, who have two countries that they represent.”

“You know, if I weren’t Canadian, then Gaby and I would have probably never played together. It’s amazing,” she added.

Their road back to the top of the game was a pothole-filled one, with Dabrowski’s breast cancer diagnosis in April 2024 and subsequent surgery and treatment.

That she missed as little time as she did in the last 17 months is a testament to her determination and resilience. She reached the Wimbledon women’s doubles final last year and earned Olympic bronze in mixed doubles with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Paris Games.

Dabrowski also fractured ribs earlier in the year due to violent coughing during a bout with bronchitis. That came just a few months after Routliffe suffered the same injury, for the same reason, at the end of 2024.

That curtailed their pre-season preparation and it took them a little time to find their groove this year.

Routliffe and Dabrowski will each move up four spots, to No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, when the new world doubles rankings are released Monday. Townsend will still hold the top position ahead of Siniakova.

Dabrowski and Routliffe also are a lock to make the WTA Finals in Riyadh this November. They won the event in 2024.

Routliffe had a seven-week stint as the No. 1-ranked doubles player last summer. But the goal remains to get back to the top.

“I think as a partnership, we always said we wanted to be multiple Grand Slam champions and then (be the) No. 1 team in the world,” Routliffe said. ”Winning (the year-end finals) last year, that was really cool to secure that. Then obviously winning today, we’re multiple Grand Slam champions, so we’ve got that goal checked off together.

“I think that it’s definitely something that we talk about, and we both have the same goal to do that.”

Dabrowski concurred, but said the result should never get in the way of the process.

“I think we also recognize that to be the best, you can’t always focus on being the best, because then you feel too much pressure,” she said. “So we try to remind each other a lot about having fun, enjoying the moment, giving each other permission to miss and stay committed to our intention.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2025.

Stephanie Myles, The Canadian Press