Dabrowski, Routliffe reach third round of Australian Open women’s doubles

Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her New Zealand teammate Erin Routliffe have reached the third round of women’s doubles at the Australian Open.

The second-seeded duo earned a three-set win (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) over  Britain’s Maia Lumsden and Czechia’s Anna Siskova. 

Dabrowski and Routliffe, the 2023 US Open champions and 2024 Wimbledon finalists, hit 30 winners to their opponents’ 14 and won more points on second serve by a margin of  72 per cent to 45.

They reached the semifinals last year in Melbourne where they were ousted by Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok.

Leylah Fernandez, meanwhile, was eliminated from singles competition, falling 6-4, 6-2 to third-seeded American Coco Gauff in the third round. 

Fernandez, of Laval, Que., remains in doubles contention with Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok, set to face Italy’s Camilla Rosatello and Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in the second round.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face the winner of the match between Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia and Germany’s Laura Siegemund, and Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti and Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina.

Dabrowski, 32, won the Australian Open mixed doubles crown with Croatia’s Mate Pavic in 2018.

She’s ranked No. 3 in the world in women’s doubles. The Canadian recently revealed she underwent breast cancer treatment last year.