Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski hits a return as she, and doubles partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand play against Magda Linette of Poland and Peyton Stearns of the United States at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Aug. 9, 2024.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Gabriela Dabrowski is back on home soil looking for more hardware.
The Olympic bronze medalist from Ottawa took a first step Friday night.
Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand ground out a 6-7, 7-6, 10-5 victory over Peyton Stearns of the U.S. and Poland’s Magda Linette in women’s doubles at the National Bank Open.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we managed,” Dabrowski said. “We stuck together and it helped us get through.”
Last year’s U.S. Open winners will face Edmonton’s Mia Kupres and Ariana Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont., in the Canadian tennis championship quarter-finals after that wild-card duo advanced Thursday without swinging a racket because of an opponent’s injury.
That means there will be at least one Canuck team in the doubles semis after all of the country’s singles players were eliminated this week – both here at Sobeys Stadium and the men’s event in Montreal.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., who was upset in singles play Thursday as the last Canadian remaining on either bracket, and younger sister Bianca are also in the quarters.
Stearns and Linette, who came back from 4-1 down in the first set, beat Dabrowski and Routliffe – the top seeds in Toronto – at the China Open earlier this year.
“I’m proud of how we fought through,” Dabrowski said of Friday’s match in windy conditions in Toronto’s north end. “It wasn’t an easy one.”
Dabrowski and Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime captured the country’s first Olympic tennis medal in 24 years at the Paris Games when they secured a third-place finish in mixed doubles on the clay of Roland Garros.
“I’m not sure if I’ve had enough time to reflect, to be honest,” Dabrowski said. “I feel like I’ve just thrown myself into another event and wanting to play well here, so I’ve put different pressures on myself.”
Canada’s only other Olympic tennis medal came in 2000 when Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau upset Australia’s Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde on their own turf in the men’s doubles final at the Sydney Games.
“The honour of a lifetime to represent at the Olympics,” Dabrowski said. “It’s such an amazing experience. Winning a medal is incredible. To do it alongside someone like Felix is really special, too.
“He’s such a nice person, works really hard.”
Dabrowski, 32, and former partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil won the NBO doubles in Montreal back in 2021 – the first time a Canadian topped the women’s field at the event since 1969.
Dabrowski and Routliffe, who was born in New Zealand to Canadian parents and represented Canada until switching allegiances in 2017, have been partners since 2023.
“The work we’ve put in together on the practice court, the work we do scouting,” Dabrowski said when asked what makes her tandem with the 29-year-old work. “(We’re) trying to be as coachable as we can be a matter of managing a business partnership, a relationship. It’s not easy, especially when we’ve been connected now for so long, but there are pros and cons to that.
“The pros are that we can fight through days like today easier than maybe a team that hasn’t played together as long.”