Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani defeated the top-seeded pair of Katerina Siniakova and Shuai Zhang 6-1, 6-2 to win the China Open early Sunday morning.
The dominant victory took just 59 minutes and was their fifth title of the season, adding to victories in Dubai, Strasbourg, Eastbourne and Sao Paulo. It was their seventh title overall as a pair. Dabrowski and Stefani hold a 75-19 tour-level record as a team.
It was the first time this season that Siniakova and Zhang have lost as a team, having entered the tournament on a 13-match winning streak.
“We brought a really high level. Our opponents forced us to do that with their reputation, the number of times we've played them. A lot of respect to them for challenging us and making us better tennis players,” Dabrowski said at her post-match press conference.
This marked Dabrowski’s 25th tour-level doubles title and seventh WTA 1000 trophy, while it was Stefani’s 18th doubles title and fifth 1000-level win.
Read also: Fernandez Bows Out Early in Beijing
Dabrowski and Stefani roared out of the gates against the favoured No. 1 seeds, holding at love to open the match and consolidating with a quick break, setting the tone for what was to come.
The pair would save a pair of break points on their next service game to go up 3-0 and would cruise from there, breaking Siniakova and Zhang one more time to take the first 6-1.
It was more of the same in the second set, as Dabrowski and Stefani opened up a quick 4-0 lead with a pair of breaks. The top seeds would briefly climb back into the match with their first break of the day to get to within 4-2, but there would be no comeback.
Dabrowski and Stefani would earn one final break to take a 5-2 lead and, with Dabrowski serving, would finish off the match with another hold at love to punctuate the impressive win.
The pair have already clinched their spot at the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, where they will make their first appearance as a team, though both women have experienced success at the event. Dabrowski won the WTA Finals alongside Erin Routliffe in 2024, while Stefani reached the final last season.
“It kind of feels like the job's not finished in terms of the season still going," Stefani said of their season so far. “I'm very grateful for everything that we've been accomplishing and how well we've been playing.”
Read also: Shapovalov Retires in Tokyo Quarter-Final Battle with Alcaraz
Feature Photo: WTA
