NEW YORK (AP) — Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe won the U.S. Open women’s doubles title for the second time in three years, ending Taylor Townsend's whirlwind stint in Flushing Meadows one victory short of what would have been the American's third Grand Slam championship with Katerina Siniakova.
Seeded third, Dabrowski and Routliffe beat the top-ranked pair of Townsend and Siniakova 6-4, 6-4 in an entertaining final Friday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Dabrowski and Routliffe embraced afterward, celebrating
Dabrowski's first major triumph since undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She delayed part of that treatment so she could compete at Wimbledon last year, where she and Routliffe reached the final.
Townsend and Siniakova were aiming to add a U.S. Open title to their resume after winning Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January.
Townsend became one of the faces of the tournament, thanks to a post-match altercation early in singles play that she wishes never happened. Townsend, who is Black, said Latvian opponent Jelena Ostapenko told her she had “no class” and “no education,” an interaction that became a hot button topic with questions about whether the comments had racial undertones.
The 29-year-old said she didn't take it that way, acknowledging, “That has been a stigma in our community of being ‘not educated’ and all of the things, when it’s the furthest thing from the truth.” Townsend's online following grew exponentially, she said she received support from fellow players and Ostapenko ultimately apologized on social media, citing English not being her first language for what she thought to mean tennis etiquette.
Townsend reached the fourth round in singles, losing to Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday when she failed to convert eight match points. It would have been Townsend's first solo quarterfinal appearance at a major.
In doubles, Townsend and Siniakova reached the final at a Grand Slam for a fifth time, along the way eliminating Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez to end their much-talked-about wild-card run. Williams, back playing at age 45, and Fernandez drew big crowds at Louis Armstrong Stadium as significant fan favorites.
Dabrowski, a 33-year-old Canadian, and Routliffe, a 30-year-old from New Zealand, split $1 million. That's the same prize money as the winners of the men's final Saturday: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos against Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.
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