Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
Adjustments were made 💪<br><br>A strong start in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WTAFinalsRiyadh?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WTAFinalsRiyadh</a> for these two! <a href=”https://t.co/6nmm3MRrWR”>pic.twitter.com/6nmm3MRrWR</a>
—@WTA
Djokovic ends season with 37-9 record
Novak Djokovic won’t defend his ATP Finals title after ruling himself out on Tuesday due to an unspecified injury.
Djokovic wrote in an Instagram story, “I was really looking forward to being there, but due to ongoing injury I won’t be playing next week. Apologies to those who were planning to see me.”
The year-end, eight-man ATP Finals open in Turin, Italy, on Sunday.
He’s won it a record seven times. Last year he beat current No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final.
Djokovic finishes the year with a 37-9 win-loss record highlighted by winning his first Olympic gold medal in Paris. That was his 99th tour-level title.
He didn’t add to his men’s record 24 Grand Slam titles this year, and after bowing out of the U.S. Open third round, he played only one Davis Cup match and reached the final of the Shanghai Masters last month, losing to Sinner. He then withdrew injured from the Paris Masters.
Besides Sinner, the other ATP Finals qualifiers were Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev.
Donations for Spanish flood recovery efforts
With the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup set to be played in Malaga, Spain, this month, the International Tennis Federation is making a donation to the Spanish Red Cross to support relief and recovery efforts for the recent catastrophic flooding in the country.
The ITF and its two team tournaments said in a news release Tuesday that they “express their deepest sympathy to the victims and support for the communities and families affected by the devastating floods in Spain and its regions.”
The Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup, along with the ITF, “are donating to the Cruz Roja, and we encourage all our fans and followers to contribute as well.”
The ITF did not say how much it is donating.
Authorities have recovered more than 200 bodies in the eastern Valencia region after heavy downpours caused flash flooding. Police, firefighters and soldiers continued to search Tuesday for an unknown number of missing people.
The Billie Jean King Cup matches are scheduled for Nov. 13-20, and the Davis Cup — the last event of 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal’s career — is set for Nov. 19-24, all in Malaga.
