Gabriela Dabrowski wrote another chapter in the history of Canadian tennis on Saturday, becoming the first woman from the Great White North to be crowned champion at the WTA Finals. She and Erin Routliffe defeated Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in straight sets in the final to claim the title.
The victory was revenge for the Canadian-Kiwi duo, who lost to Siniakova and Townsend in the final at Wimbledon. This time around, Dabrowski and Routliffe settled in after the early exchanges and broke late in each set for a 7-5, 6-3 win.
Just by reaching the final, Dabrowski had already made history by becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the final of the WTA Finals. She is the fourth Canadian overall to get to the title match of the year-end championships, also to win it, after Grant Connell, Sébastien Lareau, and Daniel Nestor, all of whom won the doubles title at the ATP Finals.
Four of the first five games went against serve. In the opening game, Siniakova fired a couple of impressive passing shots, leading to a break of Dabrowski, but the Canadian tagged her back, literally, in the following game when she smoked the Czech with a backhand on break point to level at 1-1.
Read also: Dabrowski and Routliffe stay unbeaten, advance to WTA Finals title match
That kicked off a run of three straight games for the second seeds, who broke for a 3-1 lead when Townsend could not handle a huge return from Routliffe. But the Canadian was still getting going and was broken to love to put the set back on serve. The Canadian-Kiwi team nearly regained the advantage in the following game when Townsend double-faulted to go down break point but Dabrowski floated her return long.
After the chaotic start, the pairs settled in and the next five games were routine holds. As Siniakova served to send the set to a tiebreak at 5-6, the second seeds up their intensity with some big returns. At 40-30, Dabrowski fired a return winner to bring up a deciding point that was also a set point. Routliffe then blasted a return right at Townsend, setting up an easy smash for Dabrowski to close out the opening set.
Read also: Dabrowski and Routliffe rally again, remain undefeated at WTA Finals
Dabrowski and Routliffe had to weather an early storm in the second, facing three break points in their first two service games but they were able to save them all. They responded perfectly in the fourth game, going up love-40 on the Siniakova serve and a huge return from Dabrowski gave them a 3-1 lead.
Siniakova and Townsend were not going away quietly. In the following game, the Czech flicked an incredible angled backhand passing shot to get back on serve and then Townsend saved a pair of break points in the following game to draw back level at 3-3.
Even though they were able to get back to even, Siniakova and Townsend never managed to pull ahead in the second set. After holding for 4-3, the Canadian-Kiwi duo again attacked the Siniakova serve, taking advantage of some misses before Dabrowski ripped a backhand winner to break to love for a 5-3 lead.
Read also: Qinwen Zheng and the Emergence of Chinese Tennis
Serving for the match proved tense for the Ottawan as she led 40-love, quadruple championship point, but saw the first three slip away, including a misjudged ball she let drop in for a winner to draw back to deuce. But Dabrowski made up for it with a big serve which Siniakova drove into the net to seal the victory.
Dabrowski now looks for the perfect ending to her season as she heads to Malaga, Spain to defend the Billie Jean King Cup title with Team Canada.