By Canadian Press

Canada’s Dabrowski falls short in Adelaide International doubles final

Jan 17, 2020 | 4:29 AM

ADELAIDE, Australia — Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski fell to a familiar foe in her quest for a 10th career WTA doubles title.

The 27 year old from Ottawa, alongside Croatia’s Darija Jurak, lost to her former playing partner Yifan Xu and Nicole Melichar 2-6, 7-5 [10-5] in the final of the Adelaide International on Friday.

Dabrowski and Jurak appeared poised to close it out, up 5-3 in the second set. However, Xu and Melichar managed to save two match points en route to winning four straight games to force a super tiebreaker — that they would win to secure the title.

Just a few months back, Dabrowski and Xu concluded a three-year partnership after playing in their second career WTA Finals.

In their first tournament as partners in 2017, the Canadian-Chinese pair won the Miami Open — one of five career doubles titles they accrued as a team.

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Dabrowski also reached her first Grand Slam final in women’s doubles at last year’s Wimbledon playing alongside Xu. 

Despite failing to win the title at the All-England Club, Dabrowski still became the first Canadian to play in a Grand Slam women’s doubles final since Jill Hetherington did it over 30 years ago (lost in 1989 Australian Open final).

The Ottawa native is expected to play doubles with Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko at the upcoming Australian Open. Dabrowski and Ostapenko won the Qatar Open in February 2018 in their fourth tournament as a pairing. Ostapenko was a late substitute for Xu, who was nursing a back injury at the time.

Dabrowski will also play mixed doubles in Melbourne with Croatian Mate Pavic. The pair has played plenty of Grand Slams together — including a championship run during the 2018 Australian Open.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2020.

The Canadian Press