NEW YORK — Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe are back in the U.S. Open women’s doubles final, two years after they began their partnership and immediately won their first Grand Slam title as a team in New York.
Life got complicated after that. But for all their trials and tribulations over the last 18 months, it feels as though they are truly back.
The duo that prides itself on making its opponents constantly uncomfortable with its ultra-aggressive, classic net-rushing game style has had to deal with plenty of discomfort of its own.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, and Routliffe, a Canadian who lives in Montreal but represents her native New Zealand internationally, have stuck together through Dabrowski’s breast cancer diagnosis in April 2024 and subsequent treatment.
And, in a sign of a true partnership synergy, both suffered the same injury over the last year: fractured ribs from excessive coughing due to bronchitis.
For Routliffe, it came during the last off-season after the pair won the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last November.
For Dabrowski, it happened in February. An MRI at Indian Wells in March didn’t reveal it.
But within a week after starting the European spring clay-court swing, she was in a lot of pain again. The pair had to withdraw from the semifinals of a tournament the week before Roland Garros.
And then they had to miss the French Open for the second consecutive year.
Routliffe’s off-season injury meant the pair couldn’t have a proper pre-season. They went straight into the Australian Open without any matches under their belts.
That they battled through a trio of three-set wins there before bowing out in the semifinals was an impressive feat.
But after that, the wins didn’t come. And then came Dabrowski’s injury.
“We had a rough beginning to the year," Routliffe said. "For four to five months, we weren't playing the way I think we can. We were losing a lot of close matches and then it’s like you lose your confidence. And the dealing with injuries.
"We've been having a pretty average year, but we were trying to stick to the process, practise hard and work hard and kind of trust that the results would come.”
Dabrowski underwent two surgeries and endocrine therapy for breast cancer in 2024 while still managing a busy tennis schedule. She made the Wimbledon doubles final with Routliffe and won the mixed doubles bronze medal at the Paris Olympics with Félix Auger-Aliassime.
She said she “threw the kitchen sink” at the rib injury.
“I had a lot of people trying to help me out," Dabrowski said. "It was just another level of, like, every single day (being) in communication with doctors, with physios. I invested in my own healing ultrasound machine for the weeks leading into Wimbledon.
"I got dynamic ultrasound scans multiple times to assess if the healing was beginning and how risky it was to play. So even making the quarters of Wimbledon was a big success in itself.”
After crashing out early last month in Montreal, they rebounded with a Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati.
The third-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe have had two comeback wins so far in New York. They're coming off a 6-4, 6-3 semifinal victory over second-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
In Friday’s final, they'll face the top-seeded team of American Taylor Townsend and Czechia's Katerina Siniakova.
The pair won the Australian Open this year and haven’t dropped a set in five victories en route to the final. Siniakova has 10 women’s Grand Slam doubles titles to her name with various partners.
Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated them in the final of the WTA Finals in their only previous meeting.
Dabrowski still has to manage the aftermath of cancer. She has scans every six months and remains on endocrine therapy.
The side-effects are “very similar to menopause," she said.
“In 2023, I had a great appreciation for our partnership and for the team behind us. It was really cool to have started playing together and had amazing results so quickly,” Dabrowski said. “And then fast forward to this year. Having gone through so much crap, the perspective I found was that I get to play tennis, you know? It's not something that I have to do.
“I could retire tomorrow and be very happy with my career and my friendships and all the relationships I've built throughout the years. I'm really good inside, as a person. So any success that I have feels like a full bonus.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.
Stephanie Myles, The Canadian Press
